News

• The federal banking and thrift agencies are proposing to amend the CRA regulations to address the recent statutory amendment made to the CRA by the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which requires the agencies to consider low-cost education loans to low-income borrowers when assessing a financial institution's record of meeting community credit needs.
• The proposal also would incorporate into the CRA rules statutory language that allows the agencies, when assessing an institution's record, to consider, as a factor, joint ventures undertaken by nonminority-owned and nonwomen-owned financial institutions in cooperation with minority- and women-owned financial institutions and low-income credit unions.

The agencies are seeking comment on all aspects of the proposal. For example, the proposal seeks comment on the following questions:

• Should the definition of "education loans" include private loans not governmentally insured or guaranteed?
• Should "low income" be defined differently from the way it is currently defined in the regulations, and in determining income level, how should the agencies treat the student's family income or expected contribution?