FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Agencies release 2026 list of CRA-eligible communities
The federal banking agencies released the 2026 list of certain geographies where certain bank activities are eligible for Community Reinvestment Act credit.
House committee advances bills on fair credit liability, check fraud
The House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation that would align Fair Credit Reporting Act liability with other financial consumer protection laws, reform the Securities and Exchange Commission and give banks more time to verify suspicious checks.
Lawmakers seek study of bank-fintech partnerships
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has amended the criteria it uses to designate financial institutions as minority depository institutions, including the removal of policy language that the agency said allowed it to continue MDI designation “when the bank no longer met the statutory definition of an MDI.”
Treasury opens Opportunity Zone nominations
The Treasury Department announced Wednesday the opening of the submission period for states to nominate communities to be designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones. To assist with the process, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund offers an Opportunity Zone Nomination Tool that governors can use to select communities and complete nominations.
Treasury and the IRS in April released guidance for eligible U.S. communities to be designated as QOZs. Opportunity Zones—which the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made permanent—provide federal tax incentives for reinvesting capital gains into distressed communities and will be designated every 10 years based on updated census data.