First Analysis: Federal Banking Agencies Revise Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Regulation

Summary

This practice note provides an overview of the revised regulations to revamp the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). On May 5, 2022, the three federal bank regulatory agencies in charge of administering the CRA jointly issued proposed regulations that would revamp how banks must deal with the CRA's traditional concerns of expanded access to credit, investment, and other banking services for low- and moderate-income persons and communities. As with proposals in 2019 and 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively referred to as the agencies) aim to bring the rules up to date for online and mobile banking, branchless banking, and hybrid models. This complex 679-page proposal package promised additionally to push benefits toward areas and persons that have historically benefitted least from CRA-related activities and for the first time reflect ...