WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced it will extend the notification timeframe for upcoming Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluations.
Beginning with the third quarter notification for 2017, the OCC will post the list of financial institutions in which CRA evaluations are coming due over the next two quarters. This change will allow more time for interested parties to review and provide meaningful comments on a financial institution’s performance before a CRA examination.
Current CRA regulations require the OCC to publish a quarterly CRA evaluation schedule at least 30 days before the beginning of each quarter.
Even though the OCC will publish two quarters of upcoming CRA evaluations, the schedule is subject to change. For example, a national bank or federal savings association, not otherwise scheduled for an evaluation, may be evaluated in connection with the application for a branch. In addition, some evaluations may require more time and resources than originally allotted, thus delaying other scheduled evaluations. If an institution’s evaluation is rescheduled for a different quarter, that information will be included on a later list.
The OCC encourages public comment on the institutions to be evaluated under the CRA. Comments about an institution may be sent to the institutions directly or to the OCC, and submitted as early as possible in the month the CRA evaluation is scheduled.