OCC Rates 3 Financial Institutions ‘Outstanding’ in CRA Performance Evaluations

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rated three out of 19 financial institutions as “outstanding” in its latest list of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations.

The other 16 financial institutions on the list were rated “satisfactory,” the regulator said in a Monday (Dec. 2) press release. None were rated “needs to improve” or “substantial noncompliance.”

“Under the CRA, the OCC assesses an institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institution,” the release said.

The three financial institutions rated “outstanding” include Boston-based Santander Bank, National Association; Brookville, Indiana-based FCN Bank, National Association; and Grants Pass, Oregon-based Evergreen Federal Bank, per the release.

The OCC determines the CRA ratings based on performance tests and standards set forth in the CRA rule and based on information about the institution and the community it serves, according to a questions and answers page about the program.

The CRA rules were enacted in 1977 to combat discriminatory lending practices in minority neighborhoods, PYMNTS reported in October 2023.

The CRA has long been an important tool for encouraging banks to provide financial services to low- and moderate-income communities.

In October 2023, the federal banking agencies, including the OCC, issued an interagency final rule modernizing and strengthening the CRA, in part by recognizing banking activities that take place beyond physical branches and ATMs, being more data driven and objective, and addressing concerns related to “grade inflation” in CRA ratings, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said in November 2023.

“The OCC will now turn its efforts to perhaps the most important step toward reducing inequality, which is the implementation of the new rule,” Hsu said in a statement delivered to the House Financial Services Committee.

The OCC’s list of CRA performance evaluations includes national banks, federal savings associations and insured federal branches of foreign banks that have received CRA ratings, according to the Monday press release.

The latest list includes the performance evaluations that became public from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30, per the release.