Question 9
Are bank loans made under the Main Street Lending Program eligible for CRA consideration?
Response 9
A bank may receive CRA consideration for Main Street Lending Program loans that meet relevant CRA requirements. Specifically, small business loans, including Main Street Lending Program loans, in amounts of $1 million or less to for-profit businesses, or to nonprofit organizations that are secured by nonfarm, nonresidential real estate, are reported and considered as small business loans under the applicable CRA retail lending test. Main Street Lending Program loans will be considered particularly responsive if made to small businesses with gross annual revenues under $1 million or to businesses located in low-or moderate-income geographies or distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies. Such loan programs could also receive consideration as innovative or flexible lending practices.
Main Street Lending Program loans in amounts of greater than $1 million may be considered as community development loans if they also have a primary purpose of community development as defined under CRA. Generally, loans to small businesses with gross annual revenues of less than $1 million that create or retain jobs for low- or moderate-income individuals or in low- or moderate-income geographies, or that otherwise meet the economic development “size” and “purpose” tests, qualify as community development loans. Such loans may also qualify if they help to revitalize or stabilize low- or moderate-income geographies or distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies.
Originally published in the “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Consideration for Activities in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)” on May 27, 2020 and updated on March 8, 2021 by the Board of Govenors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.