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. Dr. Thomas was the co-founder and chairman of the board of trustees of another successful CRA qualified investment impact bond fund that he launched in August 1999, but he is no longer associated with it or its advisor. 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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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 13
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JPMorgan Chase’s planned expansion into more than a dozen new markets threatens community banks and larger institutions alike.
December 28 -
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 30 -
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 31 -
The agency is seeking public comment on how to reform the Community Reinvestment Act — a big step forward without the Fed or the FDIC on board.
August 31 -
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 24 -
There’s renewed focus on the relative importance that capital and liquidity should play in regulation, but the discussion misses another measure that should rank higher in bank evaluations.
May 31 -
The Treasury Department’s long-awaited report on modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act was heavy on glittering generalities but light on specifics, which explains why the report punted the real job of making needed reforms.
April 12 -
San Francisco Fed President John Williams is not suited to lead the most important of the regional Fed banks, given his inability to detect the phony-accounts problems at Wells Fargo. He also lacks Wall Street experience.
March 28 -
Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act should seek to establish a minimum standard for the volume of CRA activities a bank must complete in its assessment area.
November 30
