CRA Rulemaking Notice: Seeking Comment On Proposed Revisions.pdf

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System proposes revisions to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations to strengthen the achievement of the statute's purpose, adapt to changes in the banking industry, provide greater clarity and consistency, tailor performance standards, tailor data collection and reporting requirements, promote transparency and public engagement, confirm the mutual reinforcement of CRA and fair lending, and create a consistent regulatory approach. The proposed rule would be published jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), with comments due by August 5, 2022. The proposal seeks to address the significant changes in the banking industry since the last substantive updates to the CRA regulations in 1995 and 2005. The agencies recognize the need to evolve the CRA regulations to better meet the core purpose of the CRA and address inequities in credit access. The proposed rule aims to strengthen the achievement of the CRA's purpose by promoting financial inclusion and transparency, adapting to changes in the banking industry, providing greater clarity and consistency, tailoring performance standards, and promoting transparency and public engagement. The proposal also seeks to tailor data collection and reporting requirements and use existing data whenever possible. The agencies are invested in ensuring that banks meet the credit needs of their communities in a fair and equitable manner, and the proposal reflects a unified approach that applies to banks regulated by all three agencies. The CRA statute directed the agencies to encourage their supervised banks to meet the credit needs of the communities that they serve, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods, in a safe and sound manner. The agencies have periodically published Interagency Questions and Answers to provide guidance on the CRA regulations. The current CRA framework uses different methods to assess CRA performance for banks based on asset size and business model. The proposed rule would introduce standardized metrics in CRA evaluations for certain banks and clarify eligible CRA activities focused on LMI communities and non-metropolitan communities. The proposal would also tailor performance standards for small, intermediate, and large banks, and tailor data collection and reporting requirements. The agencies seek to strike an appropriate balance between providing greater clarity and consistency in how banks are assessed and establishing the use of standardized metrics. The proposal recognizes the importance of transparency and public engagement in the CRA evaluation process. The agencies are invested in ensuring that banks meet the credit needs of their communities and do so in a fair and equitable manner, and the proposal seeks to coordinate CRA and fair lending examinations where feasible. The proposed rule would create a consistent regulatory approach that applies to banks regulated by all three agencies. The proposal reflects a unified approach that applies to banks regulated by all three agencies, and reflects feedback from stakeholders as provided in meetings, roundtables, and comment letters on prior agency actions.