A&B ABstract:

While we wait on the final interagency rule from the Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC, Illinois and New York are continuing along with their state Community Reinvestment Acts (CRA).

Illinois CRA Developments

Illinois announced that it would hold public hearings, two on March 2, 2023 and a third on March 8, 2023, to discuss revisions to its proposed rulemaking.  The comment period was extended to March 16 to accommodate these hearings and invite further public engagement on their final rule.  The Illinois final rule, unlike the federal final rule, will not only apply to state-chartered banks, but also to state-licensed nonbank lenders and state-chartered credit unions.  To that end, the three hearings are split among the three groups: the Bank Community Reinvestment hearing at 10 a.m. C.T. on March 2, the Mortgage Community Reinvestment hearing at 2 p.m. C.T. on March 2, and the Credit Union Community Reinvestment hearing will be at 1 p.m. C.T. on March 8.  The hearings are to be conducted in person, with dial-in and WebEx accessibility.  The IDFPR published the details for interested attendees in the Illinois Register here.

New York CRA Developments

New York, meanwhile, has updated the New York CRA regulations with additional data collection and reporting obligations in connection with minority- and women-owned businesses (“MWBEs”).  New York revised its CRA statute effective January 2020 to underscore its commitment to serving MWBEs as well as low- and moderate-income communities.  In furtherance to that revision, New York’s Department of Financial Services will now collect data concerning whether a loan or investment benefits MWBEs, in a manner consistent with fair lending laws.  This record collection will enable institutions serving these communities to receive CRA consideration for their activities in their state CRA examinations.  The NY CRA was amended in 2021 to apply to both state-chartered banks and state-licensed non-depository lenders.

Takeaway

It remains to be seen whether Illinois or New York will issue anything further before the prudential regulators come out with the much-anticipated final CRA rule.  Conventional wisdom would anticipate their waiting, but with potential legal challenges to the final CRA rule under consideration by certain banking trade groups, the states may be ready to continue moving forward independently for now and synching back up again once the final federal CRA rules are in effect.

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