Markets Wired

WASHINGTON—Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting today visited Compton, California, and met with community stakeholders and bankers to discuss how to encourage more lending, investment, and bank services in areas that need it most.

The visit was the fifth stop in the Comptroller’s summer tour to discuss modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act regulations. The tour also included stops in Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York, and Native American Pueblos in New Mexico.

“My visit to Southern California today solidified in my mind that we must update CRA regulations to drive more capital, more lending, and more services into underserved communities across the country,” said Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting. “Underserved communities hold great potential for economic opportunity that can be unlocked by modernizing regulations that fail to provide clarity on CRA.”

The visit to Compton included stops at the Neighborhood Housing Services’ Center for Sustainable Communities, the Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Center, and several affordable and sustainable housing sites. The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion regarding opportunities and challenges facing CRA modernization, facilitated by Comptroller Otting.

“We were honored to have Comptroller Otting here to see how and why we work in underserved communities and the importance of CRA in the lives of families.  Every investment matters here to lift our communities up,” said Lori Gay, President and Chief Executive Officer of Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County.

The tours conducted this summer are informing the OCC’s ongoing effort to work with other federal banking agencies to develop and issue a proposed rule to make CRA regulations work better for everyone. The Comptroller expects the interagency proposal will be issued this fall.

“Banking has changed dramatically since the CRA was enacted in 1977 and last updated in 1995,” the Comptroller said. “We should act now to ensure CRA regulations keep pace with the needs of the communities that banks serve by clarifying what counts for CRA credit, updating where activity qualifies, making evaluations of bank CRA performance more objective, and reporting results in a more timely and transparent manner.”