CRA and Financial Regulatory Reform

NNA supports the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and will work to strengthen it. NNA is working with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and other national advocacy groups to strengthen CRA. NNA is also a member of a broad coalition of housing, civil rights, consumer and other advocacy groups working to strengthen the entire regulatory scheme of the financial services industry.

In June, President Obama announced the Administration’s proposals to overhaul the financial industry. The final report and an accompanying fact sheet may be viewed at the Treasury Department's website. Included in the plan was a proposal to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would be required to increase loans in underserved and lower income communities by enforcing the CRA. The new agency would also regulate credit cards, mortgages, checking accounts  and other financial products in effort to protect consumers and be responsible for writing rules for banks and non-banks and enforcing compliance.  Other agencies, particularly the Federal Reserve, would be required to give up some powers. 

For the full text of the Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009 (H.R. 1479), as introduced in the House, please click here. The bill is currently in the Committees on Financial Services and Rules.

Summary of the Community Reinvestment Act

CRA Talking Points

Sign-on Statement in Support of the CRA

Revisiting the CRA: Perspectives on the Future of the Community Reinvestment Act

A Joint Publication of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and San Francisco, February 2009
Files open as PDFs and are quite large.

The CRA: Outstanding, and Needs to Improve
Roberto Quercia, Janneke Ratcliffe, and Michael A. Stegman

It's the Rating, Stupid: A Banker's Perspective on the CRA
Mark Willis

The Community Reinvestment Act at 30 Years
The American Bankers Association

A Tradable Obligation Approach to the CRA
Michael Klausner

The CRA: Past Successes for Future Opportunities
Eugene A. Ludwig, James Kamihachi, and Laura Toh

A More Modern CRA for Consumers
Ellen Seidman

CRA Lending During the Subprime Meltdown
Elizabeth Laderman and Carolina Reid