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 then, the AG’s office has announced a record number…
When the Supreme Court decided in favor of the plaintiff in Loper Bright Enterprises et al vs. Gina Raimondo it overruled its decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the so-called “Chevron Decision” which has been in effect for…
In a recent article in National Mortgage Professional entitled “Manufacturing Fair Lending”, former chief of the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section at the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr, Paul Hancock exposes the misuse of statistical analysis by…
The recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding resulted in the Bureau announcing the new effective dates for banks to begin collecting their CRA reportable data under the provisions of Section 1071…
Since October 2021, the prudential bank regulators in concert with the Department of Justice have been pursuing the “Anti-Redlining Initiative” announced by Attorney General Merrick Garland on October 21, 2021. During that time, I’ve been engaged by various banks to…
Every banker should know by now that the Department of Justice announced an “Anti-Redlining” crusade in October 2021. In his October 2021, press release, Attorney General Merrick Garland, proclaimed that redlining is “pervasive” today and the DOJ will be working…
Now that a Texas court has issued a temporary injunction delaying the April 1, 2024, scheduled implementation of the new CRA Rule should bankers relax and assume that the new rule’s effective date has been delayed for at least another…
This webinar, presented by Len Suzio, focused on the new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations and their implications, especially considering the introduction of new planning regions in Connecticut. The key points of the webinar included: Overall, the webinar served as…
The March 21, 2024, announcement that the prudential bank regulators have decided to postpone the scheduled April 1, “applicable” date for the Facility-based assessment areas, the new Public File section and the Public Notice Section provides some welcomed relief to…
With April 1, 2024, the effective date for the new CRA rule fast approaching, every bank is asking what must we do on April 1? Here are the answers. There are 3 sections of the new CRA that are banker’s…
The Retail Lending Test in the new CRA will measure bank performance against “market” benchmarks (lending activity reported by other lenders) and “community” benchmarks” (community demographics). Many bankers, although not familiar with the specifics, have serious anxiety about the new…
There has been much understandable confusion about many aspects of the new CRA rule. But perhaps there’s been no greater confusion and anxiety than about the Assessment Areas. And this anxiety has become more acute the closer we get to…
In July 2023, the Office of Management & Budget published an update to “Core Based Statistical Areas, Metropolitan Divisions, and Combined Statistical Areas”. That document contains the latest definitions of Metropolitan Statistical Areas or “MSAs’) which play a big role…
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 embedded in the new…
I’ve written at least a dozen articles about the dramatic impact the new CRA is going to have on banks. Until now, only about 1.2% of bank CRA examinations end with a failing grade. But, by the estimates of the…
How will loan data collection change given the pause on the 1071 rule? If that’s not a topic for today, where can I find a good source for information regarding loan data collection? I would not make any changes until…
Our office has been inundated with inquiries about an aspect of the impact of the impending new CRA rule. As we have noted in previous articles there are mistakes and inconsistencies in the new CRA Rule, and some of these…
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 General, Merrick Garland. In his press release AG…
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 developing laws and regulations to…
2022 CRA data released by the FFIEC December 2023 Ordered Alphabetically by State One of the most important CRA responsibilities for Intermediate-Small Banks and Large Banks is “Community Development Lending”. But while Community Development Lending is critically important, there is…