Joint Release Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
For immediate release December 12, 2019
FDIC and OCC Propose to Modernize Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a proposal to modernize the
agencies' regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that have not been
substantively updated for nearly 25 years.
The proposed rules are intended to increase bank activity in low- and moderate-income
communities where there is significant need for credit, more responsible lending,
greater access to banking services, and improvements to critical infrastructure. The
proposals will clarify what qualifies for credit under the CRA, enabling banks and their
partners to better implement reinvestment and other activities that can benefit
communities. The agencies will also create an additional definition of "assessment
areas" tied to where deposits are located—ensuring that banks provide loans and other
services to low- and moderate-income persons in those areas.
The CRA was enacted in 1977 to encourage insured depository institutions to help meet
the credit needs in their local communities, including low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods. Because the banking industry has changed dramatically since the law's
enactment and its regulatory changes in 1995, the current CRA framework has not kept
pace with such changes, which can adversely affect the very communities the CRA was
intended to help. The proposed rules announced today are intended to address digital
banking changes and to further encourage lending to low- and moderate- income
borrowers living in underserved communities, such as rural areas and tribal lands far
removed from urban centers where bank branches are concentrated.
The proposed CRA rules would apply to federally insured depository institutions
supervised by the FDIC and OCC, which conduct approximately 85 percent of all CRA
activity. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal
Register.
###
Attachments:
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Fact Sheet
FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams' statement
Media Contacts:
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
For immediate release December 12, 2019
FDIC and OCC Propose to Modernize Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a proposal to modernize the
agencies' regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that have not been
substantively updated for nearly 25 years.
The proposed rules are intended to increase bank activity in low- and moderate-income
communities where there is significant need for credit, more responsible lending,
greater access to banking services, and improvements to critical infrastructure. The
proposals will clarify what qualifies for credit under the CRA, enabling banks and their
partners to better implement reinvestment and other activities that can benefit
communities. The agencies will also create an additional definition of "assessment
areas" tied to where deposits are located—ensuring that banks provide loans and other
services to low- and moderate-income persons in those areas.
The CRA was enacted in 1977 to encourage insured depository institutions to help meet
the credit needs in their local communities, including low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods. Because the banking industry has changed dramatically since the law's
enactment and its regulatory changes in 1995, the current CRA framework has not kept
pace with such changes, which can adversely affect the very communities the CRA was
intended to help. The proposed rules announced today are intended to address digital
banking changes and to further encourage lending to low- and moderate- income
borrowers living in underserved communities, such as rural areas and tribal lands far
removed from urban centers where bank branches are concentrated.
The proposed CRA rules would apply to federally insured depository institutions
supervised by the FDIC and OCC, which conduct approximately 85 percent of all CRA
activity. Comments will be accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal
Register.
###
Attachments:
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Fact Sheet
FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams' statement
Media Contacts:
FDIC Brian Sullivan 202-898-6534
OCC Bryan Hubbard 202-649-6870
FDIC: PR-120-2019
OCC Bryan Hubbard 202-649-6870
FDIC: PR-120-2019