Capital Briefs: Chase Makes $4.8B Investment in CRA Push

Chase Manhattan Corp. said Friday that it invested $4.8 billion in the first year of a five-year, $18.1 billion Community Reinvestment Act initiative.

Chase said it made $3.46 billion in affordable mortgages in 1996, a third of which went to minority borrowers.

It also provided counseling to 22,000 prospective borrowers.

Chase lent $839 million to small businesses, a quarter of which went to firms in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. It also spent $377 million to finance 7,824 units of housing and 70,000 square feet of commercial space.

The banking company made its $18.1 billion commitment in 1995 to mollify activists objecting to its merger with Chemical Banking Corp.

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