The Community Reinvestment Act
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) established an affirmative obligation for deposit insured lenders to serve their entire community. Since 1986, our agency has catalyzed more than $40 billion of CRA commitments from large and small institutions in North Carolina and the Southeast.
In 2019, Reinvestment Partners continues to influence financial institutions’ CRA commitment by advocating with BB&T and SunTrust regarding the merger. We participated in roundtable discussions with BB&T in Winston-Salem and SunTrust in Atlanta. On April 25, Peter Skillern traveled with board members and fellow advocates to Charlotte and testified at the Federal Reserve / FDIC hearing on the merger. Read Peter's comments below:
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April 25, 2019
In 2017, Reinvestment Partners challenged First Horizon’s acquisition of Capital Bank, headquartered in North Carolina. See our comments to the Federal Reserve below:
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July 14, 2017
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August 2, 2017
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August 9, 2017
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September 18, 2017
In 2016, Reinvestment Partners challenged the First National Bank (FNB) of Pittsburgh’s acquisition of Yadkin Valley Bank. This challenge lead to FNB’s development of a franchise-wide community reinvestment plan with input on North Carolina’s needs and opportunities.
In 2015, Reinvestment Partners challenged the purchase of Durham-based Square 1 Bank by PacWest. This letter to regulators references many of the points of our campaign. As a result of this work, Square 1 agreed to make $30 million in grants and investments in Durham.
Reinvestment Partners’ Research and Regulatory Comments on the CRA
Reinvestment Partners also influences federal CRA regulations. In our May 17, 2013, comments on the reform of CRA, we argued for a community benefits tests for qualified investments and illustrated how the Senior Crime Prevention Foundation inflated CRA evaluation grades. As a follow up, Bloomberg News covered the issue. In response, new federal Interagency CRA guidelines on qualified investments (69675 I. Qualified Investments) no longer allow credit for the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation old model.
