Webinar Details:
Date & Time: May 7, 2025 02:00 PM EDT
Cost: Free

In this webinar, we will take an in-depth look at why the 2023 CRA Rule is detrimental to all communities, including underserved areas. Rather than improving the CRA, the rule introduced serious flaws that undermine its effectiveness as a tool for measuring how banks serve their communities. Repealing and replacing it with a refined version of the legacy CRA Rule, with strategic improvements, would enhance its impact and reliability.

Key Issues with the 2023 CRA Rule:

• Distorted Assessment Areas – Could lead to misleading performance ratings.
• Misplaced Focus – Shifts attention from true local communities to remote markets unrelated to a bank’s branch network.
• Omission of Critical Loans – Fails to include key loan types that should be part of CRA performance evaluations.
• Complex and Unreliable Ratings – Implements an overly complicated performance rating system that produces confusing and inconsistent results.

Our discussion will cover these flaws in detail and explain why a return to the legacy CRA Rule, with targeted improvements, is the best path forward for banks and the communities they serve.

What Bankers and Regulators Should Do:

• Understand the core flaws of the 2023 CRA Rule.
• Submit well-informed testimony when the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) is published.
• Educate the public on why the rule is problematic and why a repeal is necessary.
• Advocate for practical improvements to the legacy CRA to enhance its effectiveness as a performance measurement tool.

Featured Speakers

• Len Suzio is the Founder and President of GeoDataVision, a consultancy he launched in 1994 to assist community and mid-sized banks with CRA, HMDA, and Fair Lending compliance. A former community banker with over 17 years of experience, including roles as Executive Vice President and Senior Loan Officer, Len is a nationally recognized CRA expert. After the 2023 CRA rule was published Len recorded 5 hours of webinars about the rule. He has spoken at major compliance conferences, authored industry articles, and co-hosts The Compliance 911 Show, leveraging advanced GIS mapping and data-driven strategies to empower banks in meeting regulatory and market goals.
  
• Dean Stockford is the President and CEO of M&M Consulting, LLC, a firm he helped establish in 1996 to provide risk management and compliance solutions for financial institutions, with a focus on New England community banks. With decades of experience as a banker and auditor, Dean brings practical, hands-on expertise to his role. He is a co-host of The Compliance 911 Show, where he delivers no-nonsense insights on regulatory topics like CRA, HMDA, and Fair Lending, helping compliance professionals navigate complex challenges efficiently.