Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

The CRA was enacted in 1977 and, since then, has been amended up to 4 times. The first CRA implementing regulations were promulgated by the federal banking agencies in 1978. These regulations have been amended several times, most significantly in 1995 and 2005. There is a general consensus on all sides (the banking industry and the regulators) that the rules implementing CRA have not kept up with modernizations in the banking industry and are, therefore, outdated and in need of overhauling. This has prompted the federal banking agencies to modernize the CRA regulations. Both the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve issued separate advance notice of proposed rulemakings (ANPR’s), and the OCC issued final rules in June 2020. These rules have now been withdrawn, and the federal banking agencies are currently working on a joint proposed rule on CRA modernization. MBA supports the overhaul and stands ready to work with the agencies on a joint rule CRA modernization proposal.

For information on recent CRA developments in the states, click here.