On Friday, March 10, federal banking regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, making it the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. Many individuals and businesses found themselves wondering what all this meant and should they go down to their local bank and immediately withdraw all of their money.
The Community Reinvestment Act was enacted in 1977 as a direct response to redlining, an unethical practice whereby banks and other lending institutions made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for residents of poor, inner-city communities to borrow money, get a mortgage, take out insurance or access other financial services. Redlining did not take into consideration an individual’s qualifications or creditworthiness.
The OCC hopes stakeholders will carefully review the proposed changes and submit comments so that a final rule can be issued in the first half of 2020.