Two midwestern banks received low Community Reinvestment Act ratings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
BankWest of Pierre, S.D., and Rochester Bank in Minnesota were cited as "needs to improve" in the test measuring how institutions meet community credit needs, the agency said last week.
The $538 million-asset BankWest, which has 11 branches, had received CRA ratings of "satisfactory" or "outstanding" in the five previous tests dating back to 1991. The FDIC said the bank discriminated against credit applicants in a manner prohibited by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Rochester Bank's "needs to improve" citation was the third in as many exams for the $44 million-asset bank, which has two full-service offices and specializes in commercial, home, and agricultural lending. The FDIC criticized the bank's net loan-to-deposit ratio.
