WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday issued a package of long-awaited modifications to Community Reinvestment Act guidance designed to address the changing nature of banking products.
Published in the form of a Q&A, the updated guidance was first proposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve in September 2014.
The finalized guidance will be effective "shortly," regulators said. It includes a raft of clarifications on branchless banking, flexible products such as small-dollar loan programs and how community development activities are recognized.
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Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said today that the existing framework for assigning Community Reinvestment Act assessment areas based on branches will have to be reconsidered "sooner or later."
March 18 -
The chair of the Federal Reserve said that though it takes the Community Reinvestment Act "very seriously," it is looking at possible changes to the rules implementing the 1977 anti-redlining law to address concerns that it is too lax.
June 17 -
The federal bank regulators proposed more consideration for small-dollar lending and non-branch services as part of a second round of targeted Community Reinvestment Act reforms.
September 8
Out of 10 initial questions and answers proposed by the regulators, only one, addressing the "availability and effectiveness of retail banking services," was dropped.
The other nine rubrics were revised based on suggestions from industry representatives, state regulators and other players. The regulators received 126 comment letters, in addition to hundreds of form-letter submissions.
