The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given Wachovia Corp. an "outstanding" Community Reinvestment Act rating.
The rating, announced Wednesday, is the first since First Union Corp. acquired the old Wachovia and took its name in September 2001. The OCC review covered the Charlotte company's lending, investing, and service activities from Oct. 1, 2000, to June 30, 2003.
The OCC noted that Wachovia provided $3.3 billion of community development loans during the assessment period. Wachovia said it made $25 billion of community loans and investments in low-income neighborhoods last year.
In August, Wachovia pledged about $75 billion of community investment as part of its acquisition of SouthTrust Corp. of Birmingham, Ala.; that amount was more than twice the amount pledged as part of the First Union-Wachovia deal.
First Union and the old Wachovia received "outstanding" ratings in 2000.
