§__.22(c)(2)(ii) – 2
Q: Regardless of examination type, how is this constraint [“if an institution elects to have its supervisory Agency consider loans within a particular lending category made by one or more of the institution’s affiliates in a particular assessment area, the institution shall elect to have the Agency consider all loans within that lending category in that particular assessment area made by all of the institution’s affiliates”] applied if an institution’s affiliates are also insured depository institutions subject to the CRA?
A2. Strict application of this constraint against “cherry-picking” to loans of an affiliate that is also an insured depository institution covered by the CRA would produce the anomalous result that the other institution would, without its consent, not be able to count its own loans. Because the Agencies did not intend to deprive an institution subject to the CRA of receiving consideration for its own lending, the Agencies read this constraint slightly differently in cases involving a group of affiliated institutions, some of which are subject to the CRA and share the same assessment area(s). In those circumstances, an institution that elects to include all of its mortgage affiliate’s home mortgage loans in its assessment area would not automatically be required to include all home mortgage loans in its assessment area of another affiliate institution subject to the CRA. However, all loans of a particular type made by any affiliate in the institution’s assessment area(s) must either be counted by the lending institution or by another affiliate institution that is subject to the CRA. This reading reflects the fact that a holding company may, for business reasons, choose to transact different aspects of its business in different subsidiary institutions. However, the method by which loans are allocated among the institutions for CRA purposes must reflect actual business decisions about the allocation of banking activities among the institutions and should not be designed solely to enhance their CRA evaluations.
Source: Interagency Questions & Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment | July 2016