CRA

In a rare move, the House Financial Services Committee chairwoman will lead a congressional delegation to a public FDIC board meeting as it considers releasing a proposal to rework the Community Reinvestment Act.

The Fed chairman said he has not given up on the central bank agreeing with other regulatory agencies on a plan to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act, but admitted, "I don’t know whether that will be possible or not.”

The banking industry could finally have answers soon on the degree of agreement between regulators reforming the Community Reinvestment Act, how they envision CRA zones of the future and other key matters.

The meeting scheduled for Dec. 12 will also include discussion of a proposal on the agency's definition of brokered deposits.

A day after House Democrats urged the banking agencies to unite behind a joint plan to update the Community Reinvestment Act, Senate Democrats worried that an impending proposal from the OCC and FDIC will reduce access to credit.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill to require CFPB approval for certain bank merger applications in the wake of regulators' approval of a deal between BB&T and SunTrust.

Lawmakers blasted an apparent decision by the OCC and FDIC to move forward with a proposal to reform the Community Reinvestment Act without the support of the Fed.

Her comments signaled cooperation between the two agencies on a coming proposal to revamp the Community Reinvestment Act, but she raised questions about CRA assessment areas and developing a single compliance metric.

These community development-focused banks need tailored regulations to expand their purpose in helping underserved areas.

A proposal to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act could be just a snippet of what regulators try to accomplish as they wrap up 2019.