Bank Regulatory Agencies and CDFI Fund to Sponsor the National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference

On March 31 to April 2 in Washington D.C, the federal bank regulatory agencies, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund will be hosting the 2014 National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference.

The conference is set to offer participants all over the country the chance to learn about the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and its regulations. The Community Reinvestment Act was created to encourage financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the community by providing safe and sound lending practices. Enacted by the Congress in 1977, the regulation was revised in 1995 and updated in August of 2005. The act requires that each lending institution should be evaluated by appropriate Federal financial supervisory agencies. A bank’s performance is then taken into consideration when applying for new deposit facilities or when it plans to merge or acquire another institution. Financial supervisory agencies are also tasked to educate institutions on successful CRA programs that are happening in other parts of the country in hopes to help develop the community.

The CRA remains important as a way to encourage federally ensured lenders to offer loans to qualified applicants in communities where they can also take deposits. Although the CRA does not demand quotas, a periodical review of how lenders are performing in communities takes place to discourage institutions that refuse consumers access to cash in some geographical areas.

Keynote speakers include Janet Yellen, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Thomas J. Curry, Comptroller of the Currency.   These are all people we should know and follow their every move. The program is also set to feature innovations in the community development policies and practices, the National Community Development Lending School, CRA examination training and community development tours of Chicago.

The National Community Development Lending School provides intensive finance training to novice community development leaders on the key issues and current industry trends relevant to community development lending. The curriculum focuses on structuring and underwriting loans that primarily benefit low to moderate-income individuals or geographies. The school is actually more of a conference with tuition fee that include hotel room accommodations, all meals and all school materials.

This is a great opportunity for community development professionals, including CRA officers, CDFIs, nonprofits and government officials to attend the conference and treat it as a premier training and networking event. To find out more about the conference, visit this link: http://www.frbsf.org/community-development/events/2014/march/national-interagency-community-reinvestment-conference-chicago/?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery