The OCC is plowing ahead on plans to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act, but a growing consensus of industry and community voices says now is not the time for a major overhaul.
Minorities are often hit harder financially during a crisis, but if regulators move forward on revamping the Community Reinvestment Act, they’ll only make matters worse.
Lenders and community groups say it's a mistake for the banking agencies to move forward during a national crisis. But Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting says updated Community Reinvestment Act rules would speed relief to neighborhoods and small businesses.
Regulators point to traditional financial institutions as well-positioned to meet short-term credit needs during the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still a host of questions about whether the industry should try to compete with high-cost lenders.
The ICBA chief’s plea for a six-month halt to regulations not related to the pandemic followed similar calls by community groups and a key Senate Democrat.
The joint statement said examiners will not impede banks’ responsible efforts to offer open lines of credit, closed-installment loans or other products to borrowers dealing with fallout from the pandemic.
The OCC and FDIC’s proposal for modernizing the community reinvestment law would give banks below $500 million of assets the option to keep the current regime. But bankers and industry representatives say that threshold should be higher.
The banking regulators have announced that they are postponing next week’s National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference because of growing health concerns about the virus outbreak.
Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting suggested the central bank was adopting a “partisan” stance against his plan to overhaul the Community Reinvestment Act.
The deal, which could be announced Monday, would push the TurboTax maker into consumer finance; the bank would follow U.S. rival Goldman Sachs into the British market.
