The fatal flaws in the 2023 CRA rule
Predictions regarding the 2023 CRA Rule and Section 1071 and how to prepare for expected developments
How to estimate how your performance will look under the new CRA
2024 Regulatory Hot Topics
The Coming Perfect Storm
The Importance of Assessment Areas
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Community Reinvestment Act Reform: A Close Look at the Final Rule
Keeping up with all the new regulations
What’s behind the increase in CRA Exam failures?
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): Recap and What to Expect in 2014
In January 2025, the new Trump administration issued Executive Order 14173, which ordered all executive departments and agencies to, among other things, end federal “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs and to use...more
When the new CRA rule was published in late 2023 it contained some very serious flaws that need to be corrected. Fixing the flawed CRA rule should be a high priority for the Trump Administration because the new rule is...more
Recent news stories explain the criticism of Senator Warren and Congresswoman Waters directed at banks that are litigating the 2023 CRA rule. But perhaps their frustration should be focused on the regulators who have...more
As any bank professional regulatory compliance professional knows redlining is the hottest issue today and has been since Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the “Combatting Redlining Initiative” in October 2021. Since...more
In emails in recent months we've warned bankers about the extremely aggressive enforcement of anti-redlining policies. This is becoming more and more obvious every day as more banks get threatened with referral to the DOJ....more
On April 4, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu provided his remarks for the second year in a row at the Just Economy Conference hosted by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. He focused his remarks on...more
There has been much understandable handwringing about the new CRA and its complexity as well as the high CRA exam failure rate predicted by regulators based on the new assessment areas and the higher performance standards...more
On February 6, 2024, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Todd M. Harper spoke at a Brookings Institution event to outline his regulatory agenda and supervisory priorities for 2024. His prepared remarks...more
I have written a number of articles about the new CRA and the problems its requirements will impose on banks. But there are also problems posed by what the new Rule omits....more
As I write this article the Department of Justice is pursuing a record-breaking number of “redlining” cases against banks and mortgage lenders. The “Anti-redlining Initiative” was announced October 22, 2021, by Attorney...more
Climate Risk Assessments for banking purposes are in the early stages of development. No laws or regulations have been issued regarding the topic. Nonetheless, it is obvious that lawmakers and regulators are keenly intent on...more
In Parts I and II I explained the devastating impact of the new CRA Rule and what the underlying reasons for that adverse impact are. In Part III I will touch upon what banks are most significantly impacted by the new Rule....more
In this podcast episode, Len and Dean discuss the challenges compliance officers face in keeping up with regulatory changes and guidance. They mention various regulations and topics that have been covered in previous...more
On November 2, the CFPB issued a new report on state Community Reinvestment Act laws. The report found that many states adopted Community Reinvestment Acts (CRAs) similar to the federal Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The...more
Recently the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville,...more
On October 24, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the agencies) finally issued their long-awaited final...more
Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve Board’s (“FRB”) Vice Chair for Supervision, delivered remarks, titled “Furthering the Vision of the Fair Housing Act,“ to the National Fair Housing Alliance 2023 National Conference earlier...more
In a continuation of enforcement activity related to redlining under October 2021’s Combatting Redlining Initiative, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 31, 2023, that ESSA Bank & Trust has agreed to pay $3...more
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)....more
On February 8, NYDFS announced the adoption of updates to the state’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulation. The final regulation implements amendments to Banking Law § 28-b, and allows the Department to obtain...more
The Justice Department announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lakeland Bank to settle the DOJ’s claims that Lakeland engaged in unlawful redlining in the Newark, New Jersey metropolitan area. The DOJ’s lawsuit...more
Legislation introduced on September 15, 2022 by Maxine Waters (D-Cal.), chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, would significantly revise the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), adding a number of new substantive...more
Please join us for the annual Nelson Mullins Financial Services Conference, which will feature a lineup of national speakers on the future of financial services....more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed changes to private fund regulation; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) succeeded in validating its “valid-when-made” rulemaking; the...more
At the beginning of his term, President Biden declared that his administration would make it a policy to eliminate “racial bias and other forms of discrimination in all states of home-buying and renting.”...more