American Banker, April 23, 2024, Climate Change, Stifled Mergers And Other Challenges Facing Banks And Investors
Community benefits plans have become commonplace in connection with acquisitions as banks seek to outline to regulators how their deals will satisfy Community Reinvestment Act requirements. Such agreements often include pledges to expand banking services in low- and moderate-income areas. The commitments typically fall in three buckets — community development lending and investments; affordable housing and residential mortgage lending; and philanthropic dollars.
One group that is not active in discussions with Capital One is the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a fair-lending advocacy group that has negotiated 21 community benefits plans with banks since 2016, according to the website. The NCRC, which has more than 700 member organizations, opposes Capital One’s pending acquisition of Discover, arguing that much of Capital One’s business model takes advantage of lower-income credit card holders, and that the deal would diminish competition
