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NEWS
RELEASE from Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina (CRA-NC)
For
Immediate Release March
30, 2005 Contact:
Erik Ose (CRA-NC), (919) 667-1557 x21 or action@cra-nc.org Community
Group Launches Campaign To Heal Sick Federal Agency The
target of their sarcastic well-wishes was Director James Gilleran of the
OTS, which regulates the nation’s thrifts, aka savings & loans
(S&L’s). On February 28,
the agency issued new rules that relax Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
exam requirements for large S&L’s.
First enacted in 1977, CRA requires banks and thrifts to provide
banking services to low and middle-income neighborhoods.
The OTS approved these new CRA exam rules despite receiving 4,000
public comments in opposition, 95% of all comments received on this issue. “We’re
very concerned about the OTS ignoring 4,000 members of the public,” said
Peter Skillern, executive director of CRA-NC.
“We think the agency is having health problems, and want them to
get well soon.” CRA-NC’s
Get Well Soon, OTS campaign calls on members of the public to help the OTS
heal itself by sending the agency get-well-soon cards by mail and
electronically via free e-cards. Joining
activists from CRA-NC in their March 17 sympathy visit to the OTS were
members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).
The NCRC is a national coalition of community and housing advocacy
groups. Following the OTS
ruling, the NCRC issued a similar call for James Gilleran’s resignation. “No less than 95% of the comments from the public were directly opposed to Gilleran’s proposal to lessen the CRA exam for thrifts,” noted NCRC president John Taylor. “What more of a mandate does the OTS need before it realizes that its proposal was flawed from the beginning? What is the purpose of the public comment period if one renegade regulator can choose to ignore the public’s input?” “They
must be blind,” said Stella Adams, NCRC board member and executive
director of the “These
new rules put the foxes in charge of the henhouse by letting big
S&L’s design their own CRA exams,” added Skillern.
“For the good health of the OTS, Director Gilleran must step
down.” OTS
received 4,200 total public comments on this issue.
The 4,000 comments in opposition included
28 members of Congress and 45 US Mayors, both Democrats and Republicans.
No elected officials sent comments in support. The OTS is also acting out of step
with its fellow regulators. Three
of the other four banking regulatory agencies are currently moving ahead
with their own, separate plan for modifying CRA exams.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Reserve Board are accepting
public comment on their joint CRA exam proposals through May 10. More
information about CRA-NC’s Get Well Soon OTS campaign is available from
CRA-NC at www.cra-nc.org/ots.htm. About
the Community Reinvestment Association of The
Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan research and advocacy organization whose
mission is to promote and protect community wealth.
We advocate for change in the lending practices of financial
institutions to promote wealth building for underserved communities and to
end predatory lending practices that strip wealth.
Committed to creative advocacy, CRA-NC uses research, education,
mobilization, media, litigation, regulatory challenges, legislative
advocacy and stockholder actions to initiate change. CRA-NC
www.cra-nc.org
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