A final rule revising anti-redlining regulations, and proposed revisions to the debit interchange fee cap – both significant regulations for banks and other financial institutions – will be considered by the Federal Reserve Board next week on successive days.
Separately, the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) announced it also would consider its own final rule on anti-redlining regulations the same day.
The Fed said the final rule revising rules implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) will be considered Tuesday, Oct. 24, during an open meeting of the Fed Board. The meeting gets underway at 9:30 a.m. ET and will be webcast live.
The FDIC Board meeting will consider its final rule revising CRA regulations at 3 p.m. ET; this meeting will also be webcast live.
The Fed Board’s proposed revisions to the debit interchange fee cap will be considered for release for comment the following day, Wednesday, Oct. 25, during the board’s open meeting starting at 1 p.m. ET. That meeting will also be streamed live via webcast.
The CRA proposal was released for a 90-day comment period by the federal banking regulators in May 2022. Under the “unified approach” followed by the regulators, the revised regulation is intended to:
- Expand access to credit, investment, and basic banking services in low- and moderate-income communities.
- Adapt to changes in the banking industry, including internet and mobile banking.
- Provide greater clarity, consistency, and transparency.
- Tailor CRA evaluations and data collection to bank size and type.
- Maintain a unified approach.
The agencies said the highlights of the revised rule include:
- Offering of higher thresholds for small and intermediate banks (small being those with assets of up to $600 million and intermediate banks those with asset of at least $600 million but less than $2 billion); “large banks” are those with at least $2 billion in assets.
- No new data collection or reporting.
- Modernized approach to the delineation of assessment areas (AAs) and application of performance standards and metrics for retail and CD activities tailored to bank size and business model.
- Four tests for banks. Those are: retail lending, retail services and products, community development financing, and community development services.
Federal Reserve Open Board Meeting on October 24, 2023