Community Reinvestment Act
Enacted by Congress in 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) seeks to address inequities in access to credit, especially in low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. The CRA requires regulated financial institutions to demonstrate that their deposit and credit services meet the convenience and needs of the local communities where they are chartered. In the New England region, the act further requires the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to assess each state member bank's performance in its local communities under the CRA, consistent with safe and sound operation.
On October 24, 2023, Federal bank regulatory agencies—the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (BOG), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—jointly issued a final rule to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the CRA to better achieve the purposes of the law.
See the Community Reinvestment Act Final Rule for related materials including the press release, fact sheet, interagency summary of key objectives, Board member statements, and additional resources.
The sections below contain resources, tools, and examiner tips and best practices to assist state member banks with understanding the current regulatory requirements, assessing performance context factors, and enhancing the effectiveness and quality of their CRA programs. The goal of providing this information is to support state member banks with identifying needs and opportunities within their assessment areas and to streamline the CRA evaluation process.
Services & Resources
Examiner Tips and Sound Practices
Highlight the impact of your bank's community development activities and strengthen your CRA program
Performance Context
Performance context can include a broad range of economic, demographic, and institution- and community-specific information that an institution and examiners can both use to understand the context in which a bank's performance should be evaluated.
Preparing for a CRA Examination
Determine how your institution will be evaluated and which activities can be considered.
Related Links
Institutions can better understand what community development opportunities are available by reviewing the public evaluations of peer institutions operating within the assessment area.
These resources can be used to document and support the bank’s efforts to reach low- and moderate-income populations in its assessment area.
This mapping tool from the FFIEC provides demographic information by census tract, such as income, population, and housing data.
Low- and moderate-income designations are determined by the median family income in the area.
Employment trends may affect the performance context.
The designation of distressed or underserved middle-income geographies is outlined in the Community Reinvestment Act Questions and Answers. Community development activities in these geographies receive special consideration.
