Community Reinvestment

Regulation BB implements the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), which requires that the federal regulators of banks and thrifts encourage those institutions to help meet the credit needs of the local communities in which they are chartered. The CRA directs the regulatory agencies to assess each institution's record in meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. The CRA also directs the agencies to take these records into account in evaluating the institutions' applications for deposit facilities, such as a merger with another bank.

Regulation BB implements these requirements and addresses a variety of related matters, including the collection, maintenance, and reporting of data about an institution's performance in meeting the credit needs of its community and the institution's public disclosure of materials evaluating or commenting on its performance. The other three federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies have promulgated regulations substantially identical to Regulation BB.