Fed official suggests reforms to tackle ‘credit deserts’

Brainard advocates greater geographical flexibility in banks’ obligations; FDIC chair appears to agree

Lael Brainard
Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard
Fed/Flickr

More flexible regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) could potentially make capital available for credit “deserts” that lie outside normal lending and investment areas, Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard said in a speech on March 12.

Rather than banks competing for investments in their assessment area to satisfy their CRA obligations, a modification could enable more lending to areas that are starved of capital outside of their usual assessment areas. 

“We have been

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@centralbanking.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.centralbanking.com/subscribe

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@centralbanking.com to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Central Banking? View our subscription options

Register for Central Banking

All fields are mandatory unless otherwise highlighted

This address will be used to create your account

Most read articles loading...

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have a Central Banking account, please register for a trial.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an individual account

.