Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Laws and Regulations

Key laws and regulations that pertain to FDIC-supervised institutions; note that other laws and regulations also may apply.

• Part 345 — Community Reinvestment provides CRA requirements related to records, reporting, and disclosures as well as the standards for assessing performance
• CRA Sunshine Act provides the address where parties should mail copies of covered agreements and access to the interagency final rule which implements the CRA Sunshine Requirements

Supervisory Resources

Frequently asked questions, advisories, statements of policy, and other information issued by the FDIC alone, or on an interagency basis, provided to address consumer protection issues.

• “What is a Performance Evaluation?” provides brief background information on the CRA, outlines revisions of the regulation, and includes information regarding public participation
• CRA Questions and Answers provide interagency guidance on the interpretation and application of the CRA regulations
• Guidelines for Strategic Plan Submissions provides guidance and tools for institutions preparing and submitting a strategic plan to the FDIC for approval
• Approved Limited Purpose, Strategic Plan, and Wholesale Institutions provides a listing of FDIC-supervised institutions with approved limited purpose, strategic plan, and wholesale designations
• CRA Examination Schedule provides current and historical FDIC CRA examination schedules and a list of FDIC CRA regional office contacts where inquiries relating to an upcoming CRA examination or to a pending bank application subject to CRA can be submitted
• Monthly List of Banks Examined provides a listing of bank’s examined for CRA compliance by month and includes assigned ratings
• Applications Subject to the Community Reinvestment Act and Public Comments allows individuals to search for FDIC applications in process and submit comments
• Community Affairs provides information on programs which support the FDIC’s mission of promoting stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system and assists financial institutions in developing strategies that are responsive to the credit, service, and investment needs of their communities
• Strategies to Develop Partnerships with Community Development Financial Institutions is a resource guide that assists FDIC-supervised institutions with meeting community credit and development needs
• Minority Depository Institutions Program provides a listing of FDIC-supervised minority depository institutions (MDI), information regarding collaboration with MDIs, and MDI events
• Joint Statement on CRA Consideration for Activities in Response to the COVID-19 encourages financial institutions to work with affected customers and communities impacted by COVID-19, particularly those that are low- and moderate-income and addresses community development consideration for certain activities related to this national emergency
• FDIC Consumer Compliance Examination Manual provides information and examination procedures to assist institutions with complying with the requirements of the CRA
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act provides an introduction to the CRA as well as the asset thresholds for determining the applicable CRA performance evaluation procedures
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Small Bank, Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Intermediate Small Bank, and Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Large Bank provide CRA examination procedures, performance criteria, and rating guidance for each of these types of institutions
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Institutions with Strategic Plans provides information regarding strategic plan considerations including public review and comment, measurable goals, and performance context as well as applicable examination procedures and ratings
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Scoping Guidance clarifies guidance provided in interagency procedures to improve consistency in FDIC CRA evaluations
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Timeframes and Sampling Guidelines provides guidelines to assist examiners in determining the timeframes within which to review loan products and other activities for a CRA evaluation and when and how to select a sample of loans for review
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Community Contacts provides information and examination procedures for conducting community contact interviews
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Ratings System provides an introduction to the CRA ratings system, ratings definitions, evaluation criteria, and performance factor rating matrices
  • Section XI. Community Reinvestment Act — Sunshine Disclosure and Reporting provides information, including examination procedures, regarding the disclosure and reporting of CRA-related agreements

Other Resources

Supplemental information related to consumer protection issues.

• Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions. The CRA section of the FFIEC’s website contains collective information and data for institutions that are subject to the CRA’s requirements
  • Community Reinvestment Act provides information about CRA, how to file CRA data, and public data
  • Annual CRA Asset-Size Threshold Adjustments for Small and Intermediate Small Institutions includes current and historical CRA asset-size thresholds and examples of implementation
  • CRA National Aggregate Reports provides electronic access to CRA national aggregate reports produced from composite information submitted to the FFIEC
  • Geocoding System helps financial institutions meet their legal requirement to report information on mortgage, business, and farm loan applications and provides census demographic information about a particular census tract, including income, population, and housing data
  • Distressed and Underserved Tracts provides regulatory background information and annual determinations of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies for multiple years
  • CRA Rating Search allows users to find the latest CRA ratings of financial institutions supervised by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and/or the former Office of Thrift Supervision
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and includes data that may assist banks in identifying and qualifying community development activities
  • Federal Registry of Disasters allows users to search disaster declarations by state and tribal governments by year to assist in identifying and qualifying community development activities

Videos/Webcasts/Teleconferences

Informational videos and recordings of archived webcasts and teleconferences

• FDIC Technical Assistance Video for directors on The Community Reinvestment Act
• FDIC Community Affairs Webinar Series highlights strategies institutions can use to promote community development and expand access to the banking system
• CRA Interagency Joint Public Hearings provides transcripts from a series of joint public hearings held on July 19, 2010, to receive public comments regarding updating the regulations governing procedures for assessing a financial institution’s performance under the CRA