community reinvestment act (cra)

Enacted by Congress in 1977, the CRA encourages banks to help meet the credit needs of their communities for housing and other purposes, particularly in neighborhoods with low or moderate incomes, while maintaining safe and sound operations. In 1989, the Connecticut General Assembly enacted a state version of the federal law. Since 1990, the Banking Commissioner has been required to assess the community reinvestment performances of state-chartered financial institutions and to consider their community performance as a basis for approving or denying certain applications pertaining to bank expansion. Link to CRA ratings .