CRA

The focus since the 2016 election on easing rules, tax cuts and expanding access to credit is about to be turned on its head.

One of the biggest sticking points as regulators try to reform the Community Reinvestment Act is expanding the assessment footprint but ensuring banks continue to serve their direct communities.

A deal between TD Bank and a Vermont nonprofit is just one example of how banks are getting creative in addressing affordable housing needs while reaping financial and regulatory benefits.

While there are ways to improve the Community Reinvestment Act for the modern era, steps must be taken to ensure the law is not weakened in the process.

The pledge comes as Fifth Third, which had previously committed $30 billion to community development, looks to close on its acquisition of MB Financial in Chicago.

City National Bank said the foundation will buy houses and hold onto them until the buyer lines up financing.

“We have actually discouraged banks from innovating,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said in announcing a move that other agencies have made.

Through the "Where We Live" program, the bank will direct philanthropic giving to two wards in the nation's capital and provide financing for affordable housing.

Better web access, paid for by banks, could go a long way toward moving the unbanked into the mainstream. It was one of many ideas batted around at a recent a conference on the role fintech can play in promoting financial inclusion.

Jeff Szyperski wants regulators to update the definitions of assessment areas under the Community Reinvestment Act, and remove 'arbitrary' asset thresholds from bank regulation in general.

College prospects cite the financial crisis as one reason they are passing on community bank jobs to join fintechs.

Policymakers must avoid reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act that would reopen the door to the predatory lending practices that contributed to the mortgage meltdown.

The Federal Reserve System is trying to be proactive in these and other high-profile areas, offering educational materials and coaching to bank execs and directors, according to supervision officials at the St. Louis and Richmond Fed banks.

The heavy workload is not limited to implementing the financial regulatory reform bill enacted last spring, as the agencies also work to craft reforms of the Community Reinvestment Act and adjust key capital measures for the biggest banks.

Readers weigh in on infighting at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, react to a push for open banking in the United States, consider small-dollar bank loans and more.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency lowered the $14 billion-asset thrift in Cleveland to “needs to improve” from "satisfactory."

Better incentives to lend and invest in underserved communities are also worthy of consideration, Loretta Mester says, as regulators try to blend the best of the Community Reinvestment Act with new ideas in updating its rules.

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The agency has suggested several steps in its notice on reforming the law that could actually harm, not help, underserved communities.

Analysts say the proposal will hurt more than help, and while it isn't expected to gain traction soon, that could change if Democrats retake the Senate.