Search Results
Discussion Paper
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and Bank Branching Patterns
This paper examines the relationship between the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and bank branching patterns, measured by the risk of branch closure and the net loss of branches at the neighborhood level, in the aftermath of Great Recession. Between 2009 and 2017, there was a larger decline in the number of bank branches in lower-income neighborhoods than in more affluent ones, raising concerns about access to mainstream financial services. However, once we control for supply and demand factors that influence bank branching decisions, we find generally consistent evidence that the CRA is ...
Discussion Paper
Bank Regulation and Bank Complexity
U.S. Bank Holding Companies (BHCs) currently control about 3,000 subsidiaries that provide community housing services?such as building low-income housing units, maintaining shelters, and providing housing services to the elderly and disabled. This aspect of U.S. BHC activity is intriguing because it departs from the traditional deposit-taking and loan-making operations typically associated with banks. But perhaps most importantly, the sheer number of these subsidiaries makes one think about the organizational complexity of U.S. BHCs. This is an issue that has generated much discussion in ...
Banking Agencies Seek Public Comment on CRA Proposal
Federal regulators are proposing changes to regulations for the Community Reinvestment Act, nearly 20 years since the last major overhaul of its rules.
Working Paper
“Don't Know What You Got Till It’s Gone” — The Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on Mortgage Lending in the Philadelphia Market
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted in 1977, has served as an important tool to foster access to financial services for lower-income communities across the country. This study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of CRA on mortgage lending by focusing on a large number of neighborhoods that became eligible and ineligible for CRA credit in the Philadelphia market because of an exogenous policy shock in 2014. The CRA effects are more evident when a lower-income neighborhood loses its CRA coverage, which leads to a 10 percent or more decrease in purchase originations by ...
Working Paper
Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on Small Business Lending
This study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on small business lending by focusing on a sample of neighborhoods with changed CRA eligibility status across the country because of an exogenous policy shock in 2013. The results of difference-in-differences analysis provide consistent evidence that the CRA promotes small business lending, especially in terms of number of loan originations, in lower-income neighborhoods. The generally positive effects of the CRA are sensitive to the types of CRA treatment. Losing CRA eligibility status has a ...
Working Paper
"Revitalize or Stabilize": Does Community Development Financing Work?
Banks in the United States originate $100 billion in community development loans every year and hold a similar amount of community development investments on their balance sheets. A number of federal place-based policies encourage the provision of these loans and investments to promote growth, employment and the availability of affordable housing to disadvantaged communities. Research into the effectiveness of privately supplied community development financing has been hampered, however, by the lack of comprehensive data on banks' community development activities at a local level. Hand ...
Discussion Paper
Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on Small Business Lending
This study provides new evidence on the effectiveness of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on small business lending by focusing on a sample of neighborhoods with changed CRA eligibility status across the country because of an exogenous policy shock in 2013. The results of difference-in-differences analysis provide consistent evidence that the CRA promotes small business lending, especially in terms of number of loan originations, in lower-income neighborhoods. The generally positive effects of the CRA are sensitive to the types of CRA treatment. Losing CRA eligibility status has a ...
Journal Article
Revisiting the Community Reinvestment Act
Regulators are considering changes to how the 1977 law is implemented
Working Paper
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and Bank Branching Patterns
This paper examines the relationship between the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and bank branching patterns, measured by the risk of branch closure and the net loss of branches at the neighborhood level, in the aftermath of Great Recession. Between 2009 and 2017, there was a larger decline in the number of bank branches in lower-income neighborhoods than in more affluent ones, raising concerns about access to mainstream financial services. However, once we control for supply and demand factors that influence bank branching decisions, we find generally consistent evidence that the CRA is ...
Speech
Panel Remarks: Supervisory and Regulatory Action to Support the Economy and Protect Consumers
Panel Remarks at The Fed and Main Street during the Coronavirus Pandemic, WebEx event, April 23, 2020.