Dr. Thomas is the nation's leading expert and author on the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA. He has a Ph.D. in business and applied economics and an M.A. in finance from The Wharton School as well as an MBA from the University of Miami and a B.S.B.A. (High Honors) from the University of Florida. Dr. Thomas taught banking and monetary economics at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for 42 years. He is also a 20-plus year member of the board of directors and chairman of the nominating/corporate governance committee of a community bank. As chairman of the board of trustees and co-founder/founder of two CRA qualified investment impact bond funds since 1999, he has facilitated the deployment of several billions of dollars of community development investments in disadvantaged communities. Dr. Thomas was a recipient of one of the first three awards of excellence from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, or NCRC, in 1994, the other two awarded to Representative Joe Kennedy and Comptroller of the Currency Eugene Ludwig. As a consultant to both the private and federal sectors, his thought leadership is reflected in today's existing CRA regulations.
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Critics of the Community Reinvestment Act revamp want to freeze the rulemaking process. That would only delay financial help to New York and other hard-hit cities.
May 13
K.H. Thomas Associates -
A provision of the Community Reinvestment Act overhaul package would rightfully hold lenders more accountable for reinvesting in cities where they are feeding off deposits.
December 19K.H. Thomas Associates -
The central bank has a long history of fighting reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act, until now.
July 11K.H. Thomas Associates -
The information the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau collects about customer problems can be valuable, but analysts need to move past the headline numbers.
June 10K.H. Thomas Associates -
Proposals to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act should be geared toward making concrete improvements, not upending parts of the law that are already working.
May 6K.H. Thomas Associates -
PR campaigns won’t be enough to salvage the bank’s reputation after a series of scandals. Instead, it should look into adopting a new name, among other crucial steps.
April 9K.H. Thomas Associates -
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., BB&T’s primary regulator, has a history of going easy on the bank. The combined entity would be better supervised by the central bank, which already oversees SunTrust.
February 13K.H. Thomas Associates -
JPMorgan Chase’s planned expansion into more than a dozen new markets threatens community banks and larger institutions alike.
December 28K.H. Thomas Associates -
While there are ways to improve the Community Reinvestment Act for the modern era, steps must be taken to ensure the law is not weakened in the process.
October 30K.H. Thomas Associates -
An OCC charter for fintechs requires firms to meet a “financial inclusion” standard instead of conventional Community Reinvestment Act requirements. That’s a problem.
August 31K.H. Thomas Associates
