Banking Dive, February 24, 2020: CRA overhaul plan finds few supporters on any side
A proposal to overhaul how banks meet lending requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is running into headwinds among banks, regulators, members of Congress and advocates of low-income communities.
Banks say the proposal released in January by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) would increase their compliance costs and force them to hold more loans in portfolio rather than securitize them for sale to investors, while community advocates say it will lead to a drop in the number of loans to low-income households and businesses.
“The proposal is so fundamentally flawed it really needs a rethink,” Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an advocacy group, told The Wall Street Journal.
