WASHINGTON–Banking regulators said they will offer banks extra Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit for lending to lower-income Americans affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
The Federal Reserve, FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a joint statement that they would look favorably on any banks that extended services to poorer Americans affected by coronavirus when setting a bank’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) score.
Separately, the regulators reported the primary questions they are getting from banks as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow is how they should and can properly access their capital buffers, how to deal with certain other rules they must follow, and what a number of new emergency tools offered by the government mean.
Regulators have made clear they expect banks to dip into the capital they have built since the great recession.
“These capital and liquidity buffers were designed to provide banking organizations with the means to support the economy in adverse situations and allow banking organizations to continue to serve households and businesses,” the regulators said in a statement.
The regulators said the largest banks currently have $1.3 trillion in common equity, and another $2.9 trillion in high-quality liquid assets.