Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Jelena McWilliams today released the following statement regarding the agency’s joint proposed rulemaking with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
“The CRA proposal the OCC and the FDIC issued last December was a culmination of a multi-year effort by the prudential banking regulators to modernize CRA regulations for the first time in a quarter of a century. I would like to commend the FDIC and OCC staff, and Comptroller Otting in particular, on the tremendous amount of work and outreach that went into this rulemaking. There are many provisions in the final rule that will greatly benefit low- and moderate-income communities, and provide greater clarity to banks on CRA expectations.
“While the FDIC strongly supports the efforts to make the CRA rules clearer, more transparent, and less subjective, the agency is not prepared to finalize the CRA proposal at this time. The FDIC recognizes the herculean effort community banks are making to support America’s small businesses and families during this challenging time and encourages financial institutions to work constructively with borrowers affected by COVID-19.”