It is difficult to find anyone today who is satisfied with how CRA currently works. Its clear and terse statutory purpose is to assess a bank’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community. Subsequent regulation and enforcement practices have expanded Community Reinvestment Act requirements and layered on significant compliance obligations, beyond a view of lending, while narrowing its focus to segments of the community, particularly low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The geographic assumption of the statute appear increasingly out of step with the expansion of banking through the Internet, mobile banking, and ACH and the apparent lessening importance of brick- and mortar- branch offices as sources of deposits. What is the relevance of the CRA today, and what reforms are appropriate? Or should it be repealed altogether?

Mr. Bert Ely, Principal, Ely & Company, Inc
Mr. Deepak Gupta, Founding Principal, Gupta Wessler PLLC
Mr. Keith Noreika, Partner, Simpson Thacher
Mr. Jesse Van Tol, Chief Executive Officer, National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Moderator: Hon. Joan Larsen, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit