In the News

American Banker, March 4, 2022, Fed approves M&T’s acquisition of People’s United Two weeks after delaying the deadline to close its acquisition of People’s United Financial, M&T Bank on Friday received the Federal Reserve’s approval. The central bank’s blessing, announced late Friday afternoon, was the final regulatory thumbs-up that Buffalo, New York-based M&T needed to complete the […]

The Crimson, March 3, 2022, Beth Huang’s vision of civic engagement For Boston, a city with a deep history of both immigration and racist policies such as redlining, these advancements in labor have come in tandem with other, harmful trends. Foremost among them is a surge in gentrification and the resulting displacement of poorer communities,

Roll Call, March 1, 2022, Unimpressed with post office banking trial, backers eye new initiative Postal banking is a catchall term for financial services offered through the Postal Service, including checking and savings accounts, small loans, and nonbank services such as cash machines or check cashing. Research by the University of Michigan in May 2021

Boston Globe, March 2, 2022, Kim Janey to track historical landmarks in Boston Foundation appointment The effort comes in part as a response to growing gentrification in the city, where rising housing prices and other costs of living are pushing residents out — especially Black residents, who were systemically excluded from building wealth through the

CounterPunch, March 2, 2022, The movements for Black electoral power and Black economic power cannot be separated Currently only 3 percent of all U.S. senators are African American, though Blacks are 13 percent of the American population. There are currently no Black governors, which shows a lack of political strength at the statewide level. According

The Center for Public Integrity, March 1, 2022, Small business lending looks unequal. Getting the data has been a battle. Secret-shopper tests of lenders by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition have found unequal treatment of Black and Hispanic testers compared with less qualified white testers. The tests also found disparities in treatment of women compared

Reporter Wings, February 28, 2022, Which vision for bank merger reform will win out? Community development advocates, including the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, would also like to see regulators put a greater emphasis on the importance of bank branches in a given market or neighborhood in the wake of a potential merger. “With the advent

Forbes, February 25, 2022, Why the Community Reinvestment Act needs a racial equity lens There are strong legal grounds for including race and ethnicity in CRA evaluations. According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, “the CRA statute itself and the constitutional parameters set out by court cases around race-conscious policies demonstrate that the prudential regulators

Boston Herald, February 24, 2022, Who can afford to raise a family in Boston? Affordable neighborhoods have lost units to gentrification and the gleaming downtown condo towers come with price tags equally as dazzling. According to a 2020 report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Boston’s the third most “intensely gentrified city” in the nation.

National Mortgage News, February 24, 2022, Cadence Bank pledges $20.7 billion in community development lending The agreement, announced jointly on Thursday by the bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, is similar to deals announced by other banks that were in the midst of or had completed large mergers. Houston-based Cadence merged with BancorpSouth Bank

Business Insider, February 26, 2022, Homeownership is the one bright spot in building Hispanic generational wealth The median income of Hispanic households was $56,113 in 2019, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. The organization said the rate was 30% less than white households’ median income of $76,057. Since 1983,  Hispanic households’ median net worth

The GW Hatchet, February 28, 2022, Marcia Fudge discusses gentrification, institutional racism in urban housing markets The District was ranked as the most gentrified city in the United States in 2019 before falling to the 13th-most gentrified in 2020, according to a report by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition – a company aiming to end housing

Star Tribune, February 27, 2022, In Indian Country, the Biden presidency is a revelation In late 2021, the Biden-Harris administration followed with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, dedicating more than $13 billion directly to Native communities. These investments are significant when one-quarter of Native Americans live in poverty, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Bloomberg Law, February 22, 2022, Climate Risk Stumps Bank Regulators Updating Anti-Redlining Plan Financial regulators updating anti-redlining rules face a conundrum: how to increase lending in lower-income neighborhoods prone to climate disasters while also getting banks to better account for climate risks. But regulators are treading carefully as they look to modernize the CRA’s rules