OCC Leads Movement to Modernize Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
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Key takeaways:
- On August 28, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”) seeking public comment on ways to modernize the OCC’s regulatory framework for the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA”).
- In the ANPR, the OCC proposes to update how banks would be evaluated for their performance under the CRA, and also seeks to expand the community and economic development activities considered in evaluating a bank’s CRA compliance.
- The ANPR not only reflects the longstanding view of the OCC’s Comptroller, Joseph M. Otting, and the Treasury Department of the need to align CRA regulations with the changing nature of banking, but also represents a more independent stance by the OCC toward reducing the regulatory and operational costs on banks of CRA compliance in a manner that also expands opportunities for growth by those in a bank’s communities.