Bank Regulators Issue Final Revisions to Interagency Q&A on Community Reinvestment Act Regulations

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the "FRB"), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC") and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC") issued final revisions to their "Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment."

The Q&A document provides guidance to financial institutions and the public on Community Reinvestment Act (the "CRA") regulations. The document addresses questions raised by bankers, community organizations, and others with regards to: (i) the availability and effectiveness of retail banking services, (ii) innovative or flexible lending practices, (iii) community development-related issues (including economic development, community development loans and activities that revitalize or stabilize underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies and community development services), and (iv) "responsiveness and innovativeness" of institutional loans, qualified investments and community development services.

The final revisions will be published in the Federal Register.