The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) on Aug. 31 released the public list of institutions that are scheduled for Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examinations during the fourth quarter.
The CRA requires the FDIC to assess how well its insured institutions are meeting the credit needs of their local communities. Evaluations vary depending on institution size and type. Large banks undergo a three-part lending, service and investment test; wholesale and limited purpose banks are evaluated under a community development test; and small institutions have streamlined procedures with an emphasis on lending. All institutions, no matter their size or business strategy, may take advantage of the strategic plan option, which allows an institution to develop with a plan for meeting its CRA responsibilities, subject to approval by its supervisory agency.
The FDIC publishes its CRA examination schedule 30 days before the beginning of each quarter pursuant to revised CRA regulations published in 1995. The examination schedule reflects the effects of an institution’s size and CRA rating on examination frequency. Absent reasonable cause, an institution with $250 million or less in assets and a CRA rating of “Satisfactory” can be subject to a CRA examination once every 48 months. Absent reasonable cause, an institution with $250 million or less in assets and a CRA rating of “Outstanding” can be subject to a CRA examination once every 60 months.
The federal banking agencies use a uniform, four-tiered rating system to assess CRA performance, and since 1990, they have been required to make each institution’s CRA rating and evaluation available to the public.
The examination schedule is broken down by geographic regions: New York (including Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, Vermont and Washington, D.C.); Atlanta (including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia); Chicago (including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin); Kansas City (including Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota); Dallas (including Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas); and San Francisco (including Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming).
To view the list of institutions by region, visit fdic.gov/regulations/community/exam/q4cra16.html. Comments or inquiries relating to an upcoming CRA examination or to a pending bank application subject to CRA should be submitted to the regional office where the bank or state savings association is headquartered.
The FDIC noted that the schedule is based on the best information now available, but schedules might change if a regulated financial institution not otherwise scheduled for an examination may be examined in connection with the application for a deposit facility, or some other reason. Some institutions might find they need more time and resources to respond to the examination than they originally allotted, and this could delay other scheduled examinations, the FDIC added. If an institution is rescheduled for a different quarter, that information will be included on a later list.
The FDIC also is encouraging public comment on the institutions to be examined. Public comments should be directed to the institutions themselves or to the deputy regional director of the appropriate FDIC regional office.