The Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) released the Community Reinvestment Act Final Rule, factsheet and overview of key objectives. NH&RA submitted comments last year and is still in the process of going through the new regulations.
The final rule provides consideration for banks’ community development activities nationwide and creates an impact and responsiveness factor under the community development financing test for LIHTC and New Markets Tax Credit Investments. It also creates a Bank Nationwide Community Development Investment Metric and a Nationwide Community Development Benchmark for banks with assets greater than $10 billion.
The final rule will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026 and banks will have until Jan 1, 2027 to comply with the reporting requirements. The final rule notably sets up an approval process to confirm an activity’s eligibility and the regulators plan to publish an illustrative list of eligible activities. Below are the updated bank categories and relevant tests.
| Bank Size (as of December 31, in two prior calendar years and adjusted annually for inflation) | Retail Lending Test | Retail Services & Products Test | Community Development Financing Test | Community Development Services Test |
| Test Weight in Parenthesis | ||||
| Large Bank Assets > $2 Billion | Yes (45%) | Yes (15%) | Yes (30%) | Yes (10%) |
| Intermediate Bank Assets between $600 Million and $2 Billion | Yes (50%) | No | May use old framework or opt-in to new framework (50%) | No |
| Small Bank Assets < $600 Million | May use old framework or opt-in to new framework | No | No | No |
| Limited Purpose Banks | No | No | Yes, modified | No |
