Comments on the Federal reserve board's study of community reinvestment act profitability and performance

摘要

The Board of Governors recently surveyed approximately 500 institutions as part of a compre- hensive study of Community Reinvestment Act-related lending. The data, which characterize the current supply of credit to low-and moderate-income borrowers, suggest that Community Rein- vestment Act-related lending is profitable in general and that community organizations play an important role in identifying and counseling potential borrowers. The next step now is to use these data, in concert with demand-side data, to focus on causal relationships, such as whether it is the Community Reinvestment Act or market forces that are actually driving lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers.