Agencies Issue Joint Proposal to Strengthen and Modernize Community Reinvestment Act Regulations — 2022-05-05

WASHINGTON—Federal bank regulatory agencies today jointly issued a proposal to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to better achieve the purposes of the law. CRA is a landmark law enacted 45 years ago to encourage banks to help meet the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods, in a safe and sound manner. Building on feedback from stakeholders and research, the agencies invite public comment on their joint proposal, which has the following key elements: Expand access to credit, investment, and basic banking services in low- and moderate-income communities. Under the proposal, the agencies would evaluate bank performance across the varied activities they conduct and communities in which they operate so that CRA is a strong and effective tool to address inequities in access to credit. The proposal would promote community engagement and financial inclusion.