CRA

Minorities are often hit harder financially during a crisis, but if regulators move forward on revamping the Community Reinvestment Act, they’ll only make matters worse.

Community advocates would like to see changes to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, but say regulators should suspend such efforts until the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Lenders and community groups say it's a mistake for the banking agencies to move forward during a national crisis. But Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting says updated Community Reinvestment Act rules would speed relief to neighborhoods and small businesses.

The ICBA chief’s plea for a six-month halt to regulations not related to the pandemic followed similar calls by community groups and a key Senate Democrat.

The agencies said banks could receive Community Reinvestment Act credit for activities addressing the virus fallout, and clarified earlier guidance encouraging banks to dip into their capital buffers.

Groups often will oppose mergers on Community Reinvestment Act grounds. But the proposal would tighten standards for when the agency includes “adverse comments” in the process.

Utah bank is expected to launch next year; banks want to hold off regulations that would hamper efforts to keep money flowing during virus crisis.

The OCC and FDIC’s proposal for modernizing the community reinvestment law would give banks below $500 million of assets the option to keep the current regime. But bankers and industry representatives say that threshold should be higher.

The banking regulators have announced that they are postponing next week’s National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference because of growing health concerns about the virus outbreak.

While the Democratic debates have had little discussion about financial policy, the remaining presidential contenders have taken noteworthy positions on regulatory relief, CDFI funding and postal banking, among other issues. Here’s a rundown.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting suggested the central bank was adopting a “partisan” stance against his plan to overhaul the Community Reinvestment Act.

While the Democratic debates have had little discussion about financial policy, the remaining presidential contenders have taken noteworthy positions on regulatory relief, antitrust rules and bankruptcy reform, among other issues. Here’s a rundown.

Giving more Community Reinvestment Act credit to such partnerships will help low-income communities, despite industry concerns.

The deal, which could be announced Monday, would push the TurboTax maker into consumer finance; the bank would follow U.S. rival Goldman Sachs into the British market.

In a sudden reversal, the OCC and FDIC said they would push back the deadline to April for groups to weigh in on the proposal to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act.

Compared with incendiary fights elsewhere in the capital, deliberations among the banking agencies tend to be more banal. But on issues from the Volcker Rule to CRA reform, disagreements lately between officials have grown sharper.

Proposed reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act focus on everything but bank products that promote higher education. It’s time to change that.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his agency’s skepticism of a Community Reinvestment Act plan proposed by other regulators, and said the Fed has an important role to ensure banks “are resilient against the longer-term risks from climate change.”

After the State of the Union speech Tuesday, Republican lawmakers hailed the president's economic record while Democrats continued criticism of an administration plan to reform the Community Reinvestment Act.

At a recent congressional hearing, OCC chief Joseph Otting showed just how far he might go in allowing reinvestment credits to lenders.