“At the Partnership for Financial Equity, our member banks and community organizations are already hard at work to understand and comply with the final rule governing the Community Reinvestment Act,” said Brook Ames, SVP, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer for Leader Bank and chair of the Partnership for Financial Equity. “Our CRA Peer Group, led by CRA officers at Cape Cod Five, Needham Bank and Rockland Trust, has mapped out an active role in this review and I know they will be helping to lead the discussion across the state every step of the way.”
“CRA has been a critical tool for investment in low- and moderate-income communities since its passage in 1977 and we fully support modernizing the rules to ensure that this mission is consistent with changes in banking and consumer behavior,” said Thomas Callahan, Executive Director at the Partnership for Financial Equity. “We have already heard from our members about positive aspects of the rule as well as initial concerns about how this will affect our communities, and it will take some time to fully absorb the first substantive changes to CRA in more than 25 years.”
Get more involved in the conversation around the Community Reinvestment Act by joining Partnership for Financial Equity, either as a financial institution or community-based organization. Contact us at tcallahan@financialequity.net for more information.
Partnership for Financial Equity helps financial institutions to stay current on Community Reinvestment Act requirements and engage in important research and timely conversations about investments in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods . Membership donations to Partnership for Financial Equity are a qualified investment under the State’s CRA statute.
Join for Financial Institutions | Join for Community Organizations
Our Mortgage Lending Committee works to close the racial homeownership gap and to expand and sustain homeownership in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods.
Read More
Our Small Business Lending Committee promotes the economic vitality of low- and moderate-income communities with insight, ideas and data designed to encourage small business lending and close racial wealth gaps.
Read More
Our Banking Services Committee supports Basic Banking for Massachusetts and addresses emerging issues impacting access to financial services for low- to moderate income households.
Read More
Our CRA Peer Group is a network, resource and voice providing CRA officers an opportunity to respond to regulatory changes, share resources, and elevate best practices.
Read MoreThank you to all of our sponsors, speakers, panelists and attendees in making our second annual Financial Equity Summit a huge success. This year’s Summit featured Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell, Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, Jillian White, CEO of Appraisal Insights and Leah Rothstein, co-author of Just Action. […]
Read MoreIt started in Dorchester. The nation’s first ever program to support first-generation homebuyers, those without the Bank of Mom and Dad, was launched here in Massachusetts in 2019 by the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance. In just four short years, the concept has taken off and now eleven different locations have first-gen programs, according to a […]
Read More
“At the Partnership for Financial Equity, our member banks and community organizations are hard at work to understand and comply with the final rule governing the Community Reinvestment Act,” said Brook Ames, SVP, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer for Leader Bank and chair of the Partnership for Financial Equity.