The Community Reinvestment Act After Financial Modernization: A Final Report

In November 1999, President Clinton signed into law financial modernization legislation (referred to herein as the Financial Modernization Act (FMA)), perhaps the most sweeping revision to this nation’s financial laws of the post-War era. Among other things, the FMA directed the Treasury Department to prepare within two years of the law’s passage a report on the Act’s impact on the provision of adequate services as intended by the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). As part of this requirement, the FMA also directed the Department to prepare a “baseline” report on the impact of the CRA against which to measure any subsequent changes resulting from the FMA. This report fulfills the “baseline” requirement.