Agencies Request Comment on Proposed Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today requested comment on proposed revisions to the "Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment." The Questions and Answers provide additional guidance to financial institutions and the public on the agencies' regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

The proposed new and revised guidance addresses questions raised by bankers, community organizations, and others regarding the agencies' CRA regulations.

The proposed new and revised questions and answers:

• Address alternative systems for delivering retail banking services.
• Add examples of innovative or flexible lending practices.
• Address community development-related issues by: (i) clarifying guidance on economic development; (ii) providing examples of community development loans and activities that are considered to revitalize or stabilize an underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geography; and (iii) clarifying how community development services are evaluated.
• Offer guidance on how examiners evaluate the responsiveness and innovativeness of an institution's loans, qualified investments, and community development services.

The Federal Register notice is attached. Comments will be due 60 days after publication.

For more information on the CRA, the agencies' CRA regulations, and the agencies' Questions and Answers, please visit the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council website at www.ffiec.gov.

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