Company: BWFG
Filing Date: 2025-03-05
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001505732-25-000052
Chunk: 30

Company: Bankwell Financial Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-05
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 30
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B, is required to acquire and hold shares of capital stock in the FHLB.

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).   Under the CRA, as implemented by FDIC regulations, a bank has a continuing and affirmative obligation, consistent with its safe and sound operation, to help meet the credit needs of its entire community, including low and moderate income neighborhoods. The CRA does not establish specific lending requirements or programs for financial institutions nor does it limit an institution’s discretion to develop the types of products and services that it believes are best suited to its particular community. The CRA does require the FDIC, in connection with its examination of a bank, to assess the bank’s record of meeting the credit needs of its community and to take such record into account in its evaluation of certain applications by such bank, including applications to acquire branches and other financial institutions. The CRA requires the FDIC to provide a written evaluation of a bank’s CRA performance utilizing a four-tiered descriptive rating system. In particular, the system focuses on three tests:

•A lending test, to evaluate the bank’s record of making loans in its assessment areas;

•An investment test, to evaluate the bank’s record of investing in community development projects, affordable housing, and programs benefiting low or moderate income individuals and businesses; and

•A service test, to evaluate the bank’s delivery of services through its branches, ATMs, and other offices.

Connecticut has its own statutory counterpart to the CRA which is applicable to the Bank. The Connecticut version of CRA is generally similar to the federal version, but utilizes a five-tiered descriptive rating system. Connecticut law requires the Connecticut Department of Banking to consider, but not be limited to, a bank’s record of performance under the Connecticut CRA in considering any application by the Bank to establish a branch or other deposit-taking facility, to relocate an office or to merge or consolidate with or acquire the assets and assume the liabilities of any other banking institution. In our most recent evaluation, the Bank received a CRA rating of “satisfactory”.

 On October 24, 2023, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released the final rule to strengthen and modernize their regulations implementing the CRA. The final rule revises the CRA regulations to better achieve the CRA’s core purpose of encouraging banks to help meet the credit needs of their local communities. It also adapts to changes in the banking industry, including the expanded role of mobile