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Warren W. Traiger Quoted in Bloomberg BNA Article, “OCC Signals Path to Relaxed Community Lending Ratings for Banks”
Bloomberg BNA
Warren W. TraigerWarren W. Traiger was quoted on October 12, 2017 in a Bloomberg BNA article, “OCC Signals Path to Relaxed Community Lending Ratings for Banks,” which discussed an important policy shift following the OCC’s regulatory bulletin on CRA ratings that could help banks avoid downgrades. The article stated, “According to the bulletin, when considering downgrades, OCC examiners will ask whether evidence of other known problems, such as lending discrimination or other illegal loan practices, have a clear connection to the bank’s CRA effort.” The article added, “The bulletin marks a change from Obama-era policies that gave banks lower CRA ratings based on non-CRA factors.”
Traiger noted, “I think this directive is attempting to cut back on that and make CRA ratings mainly a function of how well a bank performs under the CRA, barring pretty serious evidence of discrimination. For example, if your CRA rating is based largely on mortgage lending, evidence of mortgage redlining could result in a downgrade. But other factors might not mean a lower rating.”