FRB Vice Chair Brainard Says Revised CRA Will Benefit Native Americans

At a "National Native Coalition listening session," Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Lael Brainard described potential benefits of proposed revisions to the Community Reinvestment Act.

Ms. Brainard said that the proposed revisions would:

• provide "clarity and specificity" as to the activities that qualify for CRA credit (e.g., revitalization, essential community infrastructure, disaster preparedness and climate resiliency, etc.); this would, she said, provide "greater incentives for community investments in Native Land Areas;"
• provide certainty for Native community development financial institutions ("CDFIs") and minority depository institutions ("MDIs") "that activities with Treasury-certified CDFIs will qualify for CRA consideration," and receive "credit for activities with MDIs";
• incorporate a new definition of "Native Land Areas" based on increased government recognition of tribes and tribal areas "that would enable the qualification of place-based activities in Native Land Areas";
• establish a "publicly available illustrative list of eligible community development activities";
• conduct assessments of the impact and responsiveness of a bank's community development activities; and
• "emphasize a bank's performance in the local communities where it maintains branches;" and "evaluate whether banks have branches in low-income and moderate-income census tracts."

Ms. Brainard stated that "this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity" and "for the first time, the CRA will provide powerful incentives for banks to make investments in communities that do not have access to branches, such as in Native lands."