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Community Reinvestment Act Joint Public Hearing, August 12, 2010 Chicago, Illinois

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Community Reinvestment Act Joint Public Hearing, August 12, 2010 Chicago, Illinois Community Reinvestment Act Joint Public Hearing, August 12, 2010 Chicago, Illinois Alicia Williams: Good morning. Voices: Morning. Alicia Williams: I know the room seems a little thin right now but I'm sure that's going to change, so you know the early bird gets the worm, as they say. Um, my name is Alicia Williams. I'm vice President over Consumer and Community Affairs here at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and I'd like to welcome you to this interagency public hearing on the Community Reinvestment Act, CRA. Before I turn the podium over to Governor Elizabeth Duke from the Federal Reserve Board I want to cover a few logistical and housekeeping items. Now if you didn't pick up an agenda or the hearing procedures before you came into the room, we do have some out there on the table just outside of the door here. Also, if you have cell phones, if you could either turn them off or put them on mute and if you're sitting up here or sitting at a table that has a microphone, if you could put your cell phones underneath the table because you know we don't want to have them interfering with the system, so if you could do that, that would be great. Also I want to let you know that the meeting is being recorded and is scheduled to run from nine to four-thirty p.m. so we're going to definitely try to keep it on schedule. And then today we will have three panels and then we will have individual presentations that will be given at 3 p.m. We will have two scheduled breaks and then we will have a boxed lunch for you at 12:15. And see they said there was no free lunch, well there is. Okay and then the other thing we'll do five minutes before we begin each section we'll ring the chimes so if you hear those chimes going on that means you've got about five minutes to come back into the room and then we're going to start promptly. Also since we have a full agenda I want to ask each panelist...panelists, hello...okay that you stick to your allotted time so that others will have opportunity to speak. Please speak directly into the microphone so you can be heard. We have a time keeper up front and that's Jennifer, so keep your eye on her, and we also have a timing device, the little device there with the lights. Now when you start it will be green, when you got two minutes left it turns yellow and then Jennifer who's going to be like our Vanna, she's going to give you a one minute sign and no, you can't ask for additional time for $200. [Laughter.] Alicia Williams: So when the light turns red your time is up. Then after the presentations are completed, each agency principal will have five minutes to ask questions of you and they're going to direct the questions to a specific person, so please try to be as succinct in your response as you can. And if time permits, we'll have a second round of questions for five minutes and if we have time after that then you'll be given a moment to do like a brief wrap up and summary, and that would be prior to the conclusion of the panel. So I know there's some individual presenters in the room, you'll begin speaking at 3 p.m. so we would like you to assemble in front of the Wisconsin room just over to the right and then we're going to bring you in when your time is ready to start so please assemble by 2:50, we will begin at 3 when the break is over. You'll be given three minutes to speak and then Jennifer will give you a sign when you have one minute and then you'll get another sign when you have 30 seconds and then when your time is up, then if you will step away and then the next person can come up and speak. So we're going to moving through that process pretty quickly so we can accommodate as many people as we can. Now in regards to where the restrooms are, I didn't think I would tell you, but I think it will, so you're going to go through out the door, if you go over the bridge you're going to make a left, if you go out just up around the hallway you're going to go and make a right, so it's near the bank of elevators, so that's where those are. So now I'm going to turn the program over to Governor Duke, thank you. Elizabeth Duke: I will be joined today by Martin Gruenberg but you may notice this is not Martin Gruenberg – [Laughs] -- Ellen Lizar, who is senior advisor to the chairman for consumer policy at the FDIC and we understand that Marty is in a vehicle on his way here, and so whenever he gets here he will take his place. Barry Wides [phonetic], who is Deputy Controller for Community Affairs at the ICC and Thomas Barnes, Deputy Director Examination, Supervision and Consumer Protection of the OTS. Before we begin I'd like to express my appreciation to President Evans and our colleagues here at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for hosting us today. Charlie you want to stand up just so they can see. This is President Evans, this is...we're in his house. Alicia Williams, the Vice President of Consumer and Community Affairs Division at the Chicago Reserve Bank and the staff here have worked to ensure that this hearing goes smoothly and that we're all well taken care of. Thank you Alicia, Maryjo Conestra, Maryjo Huck, Laura LeBarbra, Donna Mortensen, Elizabeth Taylor, Ron Glasic, and Damon Warfield, for all of you for your work. I'd also like to thank the witnesses here today both on the panels and individually for the input that's so important to our work. I would encourage each of you as well as anyone here who will not be testifying to also provide us with written comments. And finally let me apologize to anyone whose comments we need to cut off and to those of you that we couldn't accommodate the speaking part. Please report that interest in this topic has been tremendous and we have filled every available speaking slot and many of the seats in the room so I'll be asking for everyone's assistance to observe time limits and stay on schedule. I'm going to begin with a few opening comments and then give my fellow regulators a chance to make some remarks and then we'll begin with the first panel. As we know the structure of the financial services industry, the financial products that banking services offered and the methods used to deliver those products and services have changed dramatically in the 33 years since CRA was enacted. The needs of communities have also changed. These hearings are designed to help us gather input on whether and how we should update our CRA regulations. Our over arching goal is to ensure that the regulations remain relevant and effectively encourage financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of their communities including low and moderate income neighborhoods consistent with safe and sound operations. We're fortunate to have a plethora of witnesses here today, all of them are highly knowledgeable about the CRA, and although they play different roles and have different perspectives I think it's safe for me to say that all of them share the common goal of working to ensure that financial services are readily available in their communities. Having worked with CRA as a community banker I've witnessed its benefits first hand. CRA is not only about mortgage lending to low and moderate income borrowers in lower income neighborhoods. It's also about meeting the needs of small farms and businesses and as such it serves as a valuable catalyst for job creation in both urban and rural areas across the country. The formation and growth of small businesses and the health of neighborhoods depend critically on access to credit and other financial services. So I'd like to offer a few principles to guide our thinking as we consider changes to the CRA regulations. First any regulatory initiative should be transparent and have clearly stated goals. Much of the motivation for the CRA regulatory amendments in 1995 stem from the vagueness of the original approach. The revisions to the regulations were designed to improve clarity and thereby promote increased lending and investment activity. Second, regulations should achieve their stated goals as effectively and efficiently as possible. We should focus more on impact than on process. Documentation requirements should take into account the size and resources of the institution and performance measurements must balance quantitative measurements of performance with consideration of the quality of the credit investment and services extended. Third, any changes we make to the regulation should retain the flexibility that has been interval to CRA success. Our efforts to redesign the CRA rules over the years have kept them relevant amid changes in financial markets and community needs. In June of this year, this flexibility enabled us to issue a proposal for comment designed to respond to a pressing need to provide housing related assistance to stabilize communities affected of high levels of foreclosures.
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