In the News

Buffalo News, November 16, 2023, KeyBank Again Criticized By Coalition Over Lending Practices A national coalition of community groups is again criticizing KeyBank over its track record of home purchase loans with Black and low-income borrowers. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition claims Key’s results worsened since the organization released a similar report last December. The […]

AP News, November 16, 2023, First Citizens Announces Expanded Commitment To Communities In Northern California And Eastern Massachusetts First Citizens Bank today announced an amendment to its existing Community Benefits Plan agreement with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and its members that extends the bank’s longstanding community support to Northern California and Massachusetts following

News Pub, November 16, 2023, Podcast: Today In Ohio – KeyBank KeyBank has been rightfully blasted in the recent past for its poor record of lending in marginalized communities. Is it doing any better? The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which is a fair lending advocate, released a report yesterday that found KeyBank mortgage lending in

BET, November 16, 2023, What’s In The New CRA Rules That Are Intended Finally To End Discriminatory Lending Practices? Federal banking regulators are attempting to update a policy that has, over time, not lived up to its design to make homeownership and wealth creation more accessible for African Americans. The plan is to get banks

WisBusiness, November 16, 2023, Color Bold: Support Local Black, Indigenous And People Of Color (BIPOC)-Owned Businesses With The ColorBold Business Association Inc. ColorBold Business Association Inc., a resource for all people of color locally, nationally and globally headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is encouraging people in the Northeast Wisconsin region to take advantage of all the benefits of supporting

The Maine Campus, November 16, 2023, Are There Valid Clauses to Re-Evaluate UMaine’s Native Scholarship Program? A formal complaint was filed to the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in dispute of the University of Maine scholarship programs designated for Native American students. It was submitted by an individual by the name

The Press Democrat, November 8, 2023, Frustrated With New Rules, Bank Lobbyists Are Making Their Fight Public In recent months, trade groups representing banks of all sizes, including the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America and the Bank Policy Institute, have accused federal regulators such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and

New York Times, November 8, 2023, Frustrated With New Rules, Bank Lobbyists Are Making Their Fight Public Banks have become increasingly frustrated with their federal regulators and, in a break with tradition, have brought the battle out into the open. Regulators say they are using powers they have long held to address specific problems in

Axios, November 8, 2023, Scoop: SBA Expands Its Primary Business Loan Program The US Small Business Administration has chosen three new lenders to make SBA 7(a) loans nationally, Axios has learned. This marks the first time in more than 40 years that the SBA has expanded its primary business loan program and brings the total number of nonbank lenders

USA Today, November 8, 2023, As Online Banking Grew, Mortgage Lending Regulations Didn’t Follow Suit. Until Now. After nearly three decades, bank regulators have updated a 1977 law meant to undo the practice of redlining, a color-coded government-backed policy of discriminating against Black borrowers by deeming ? and literally outlining ? majority Black neighborhoods as “hazardous.” The

MSN, November 6, 2023, Why Are The Big Banks In The US Laying Off Thousands Of Employees? Changes are coming to the banking sector. As younger clients open accounts, digital banking options are increasing in demand, and automation is leading banks to close local branches. The integration of artificial intelligence into the banking sector, as well as

HousingWire, November 6, 2023, Bank Regulators Issue New Community Reinvestment Act Rule The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued on Tuesday a new rule to modernize the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which addresses systemic inequalities in access to credit.  Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the National

Bloomberg, October 25, 2023, Big Banks Face Fresh Anti-Redlining Rules From Top US Regulators Top US banking regulators have updated decades-old rules that are meant to tackle redlining and boost lending to lower-income areas.  Under Tuesday’s plan, the landmark 1977 Community Reinvestment Act will for the first time cover online and mobile banking services. That means the

American Banker, October 25, 2023, Community Reinvestment Act Rule Finally Crosses The Finish Line  The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted to issue a final rule revamping the Community Reinvestment Act Tuesday morning, redefining the criteria for small, intermediate and large banks; introducing new evaluation tests based on loan activity rather than

Axios, October 25, 2023, Banks Are About To Face Tougher Scrutiny Of Discrimination In Lending Bank regulators finalized changes on Tuesday to a 1977 law meant to address racial discrimination in banking — particularly the practice of redlining, the previously federally-sanctioned practice of not providing home loans to Black borrowers in certain neighborhoods. Under the