Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14127 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket Number FRA–2011–0104] 

Central Florida Rail Corridor’s Request 

To Amend Its Positive Train Control 

System 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This document provides the 

public with notice that, on February 15, 

2024, the Central Florida Rail Corridor 

(CFRC) submitted a request for 

amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified 

positive train control (PTC) system in 

order to temporarily disable its PTC 

system between Milepost (MP) 749.60 

and MP 755.4 to perform infrastructure 

upgrades to better facilitate vehicular 

travel across a crossing. As this RFA 

may involve a request for FRA’s 

approval of proposed material 

modifications to an FRA-certified PTC 

system, FRA is publishing this notice 

and inviting public comment on CFRC’s 

RFA to its PTC system. 

DATES: FRA will consider comments 

received by March 18, 2024. FRA may 

consider comments received after that 

date to the extent practicable and 

without delaying implementation of 

valuable or necessary modifications to a 

PTC system. 

ADDRESSES: 

Comments: Comments may be 

submitted by going to https://

www.regulations.gov and following the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

Instructions: All submissions must 

include the agency name and the 

applicable docket number. The relevant 

PTC docket number for this host 

railroad is Docket No. FRA–2011–0104. 

For convenience, all active PTC dockets 

are hyperlinked on FRA’s website at 

https://railroads.dot.gov/researchdevelopment/program-areas/traincontrol/ptc/railroads-ptc-dockets. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to https://

www.regulations.gov; this includes any 

personal information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal, Train 

Control, and Crossings Division, 

telephone: 816–516–7168, email: 

Gabe.Neal@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In general, 

title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) 

section 20157(h) requires FRA to certify 

that a host railroad’s PTC system 

complies with title 49 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) part 236, subpart I, 

before the technology may be operated 

in revenue service. Before making 

certain changes to an FRA-certified PTC 

system or the associated FRA-approved 

PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP), a host railroad 

must submit, and obtain FRA’s approval 

of, an RFA to its PTC system or PTCSP 

under 49 CFR 236.1021. 

Under 49 CFR 236.1021(e), FRA’s 

regulations provide that FRA will 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

and invite public comment in 

accordance with 49 CFR part 211, if an 

RFA includes a request for approval of 

a material modification of a signal or 

train control system. Accordingly, this 

notice informs the public that, on 

February 15, 2024, CFRC submitted an 

RFA to its PTCSP for its Interoperable 

Electronic Train Management System 

(I–ETMS), which seeks FRA’s approval 

for a temporary outage during 

infrastructure upgrades to better 

facilitate vehicular travel across a 

crossing. That RFA is available in 

Docket No. FRA–2011–0104. 

Interested parties are invited to 

comment on CFRC’s RFA by submitting 

written comments or data. During FRA’s 

review of CFRC’s RFA, FRA will 

consider any comments or data 

submitted within the timeline specified 

in this notice and to the extent 

practicable, without delaying 

implementation of valuable or necessary 

modifications to a PTC system. See 49 

CFR 236.1021; see also 49 CFR 

236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, 

FRA maintains the authority to approve, 

approve with conditions, or deny a 

railroad’s RFA at FRA’s sole discretion. 

Privacy Act Notice 

In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, 

FRA solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its decisions. DOT posts 

these comments, without edit, including 

any personal information the 

commenter provides, to https://

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

See https://www.regulations.gov/ 

privacy-notice for the privacy notice of 

regulations.gov. To facilitate comment 

tracking, we encourage commenters to 

provide their name, or the name of their 

organization; however, submission of 

names is completely optional. If you 

wish to provide comments containing 

proprietary or confidential information, 

please contact FRA for alternate 

submission instructions. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams, 

Director, Office of Railroad Systems and 

Technology. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03875 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Community Development Financial 

Institutions Fund 

Funding Opportunities: Bond 

Guarantee Program, FY 2024; Notice of 

Guarantee Availability 

Funding Opportunity Title: Notice of 

Guarantee Availability (NOGA) inviting 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications for the 

Community Development Financial 

Institutions (CDFI) Bond Guarantee 

Program. 

Announcement Type: Announcement 

of opportunity to submit Qualified 

Issuer Applications and Guarantee 

Applications. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 21.011. 

Dates: Qualified Issuer Applications 

and Guarantee Applications may be 

submitted to the CDFI Fund starting on 

the date of publication of this NOGA. In 

order to be considered for the approval 

of a Guarantee in fiscal year (FY) 2024, 

Qualified Issuer Applications must be 

submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time 

(ET) on April 16, 2024 and Guarantee 

Applications must be submitted by 

11:59 p.m. ET on April 23, 2024. If 

applicable, CDFI Certification 

Applications must be received by the 

CDFI Fund by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 

23, 2024. Under FY 2024 authority, 

Bond Documents and Bond Loan 

documents must be executed, and 

Guarantees will be provided, in the 

order in which Guarantee Applications 

are approved or by such other criteria 

that the CDFI Fund may establish, in its 

sole discretion, and in any event by 

December 31, 2024. 

Executive Summary: This NOGA is 

published in connection with the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program, administered 

by the Community Development 

Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI 

Fund), the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury (Treasury). Through this 

NOGA, the CDFI Fund announces the 

availability of up to $500 million of 

Guarantee Authority in FY 2024 subject 

to Congressional authorization. This 

NOGA explains application submission 

and evaluation requirements and 

processes, and provides agency contacts 

and information on CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program outreach. Parties 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14128 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

interested in being approved for a 

Guarantee under the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program must submit 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications for 

consideration in accordance with this 

NOGA. Capitalized terms used in this 

NOGA and not defined elsewhere are 

defined in the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program regulations (12 CFR 1808.102) 

and the CDFI Program regulations (12 

CFR 1805.104). 

I. Guarantee Opportunity Description 

A. Authority: The CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program was authorized by 

the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 

(Pub. L. 111–240; 12 U.S.C. 4713a) (the 

Act). Section 1134 of the Act amended 

the Riegle Community Development and 

Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (12 

U.S.C. 4701, et seq.) to provide authority 

to the Secretary of the Treasury 

(Secretary) to establish and administer 

the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. 

B. Bond Issue size; Amount of 

Guarantee authority: In FY 2024, the 

CDFI Fund expects that the Secretary 

may guarantee Bond Issues having a 

minimum Guarantee of $100 million 

each, and up to an aggregate total of 

$500 million, or other amounts 

authorized by FY 2024 Appropriations. 

C. Program summary: The purpose of 

the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program is to 

support CDFI lending by providing 

Guarantees for Bonds issued for Eligible 

Community or Economic Development 

Purposes, as authorized by section 1134 

and 1703 of the Act. The Secretary, as 

the Guarantor of the Bonds, will provide 

a 100% Guarantee for the repayment of 

the Verifiable Losses of Principal, 

Interest, and Call Premium of Bonds 

issued by Qualified Issuers. Qualified 

Issuers, approved by the CDFI Fund, 

will issue Bonds that will be purchased 

by the Federal Financing Bank. The 

Qualified Issuer will use 100% of Bond 

Proceeds to provide Bond Loans to 

Eligible CDFIs, which will use Bond 

Loan proceeds for Eligible Community 

and Economic Development Purposes, 

including providing Secondary Loans to 

Secondary Borrowers in accordance 

with the Secondary Loan Requirements. 

Secondary Loans may support lending 

in the following asset classes: CDFI-toCDFI, CDFI to Financing Entity, Charter 

Schools, Commercial Real Estate, 

Daycare Centers, Healthcare Facilities, 

Rental Housing, Rural Infrastructure, 

Owner-Occupied Home Mortgages, 

Licensed Senior Living and Long-Term 

Care Facilities, Small Business, and Notfor-Profit Organizations, as these terms 

are defined in the Secondary Loan 

Requirements (Underwriting Review 

Checklist), which can be found on the 

CDFI Fund’s website at 

www.cdfifund.gov/bond. 

D. Review Guarantee Applications, in 

general: 

1. Qualified Issuer Applications 

submitted with Guarantee Applications 

will have priority for review over 

Qualified Issuer Applications submitted 

without Guarantee Applications. With 

the exception of the aforementioned 

prioritized review, all Qualified Issuer 

Applications and Guarantee 

Applications will be reviewed by the 

CDFI Fund on an ongoing basis, in the 

order in which they are received, or by 

such other criteria that the CDFI Fund 

may establish in its sole discretion. 

2. Guarantee Applications that are 

incomplete or require the CDFI Fund to 

request additional or clarifying 

information may delay the ability of the 

CDFI Fund to move the Guarantee 

Application to the next phase of review. 

Submitting an incomplete Guarantee 

Application earlier than other 

applicants does not ensure first 

approval. 

3. Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications that were 

received in FY 2023 and that were 

neither withdrawn nor declined in FY 

2023 will be considered under FY 2024 

authority. 

4. Pursuant to the Regulations at 12 

CFR 1808.504(c), the Guarantor may 

limit the number of Guarantees issued 

per year or the number of Guarantee 

Applications accepted to ensure that a 

sufficient examination of Guarantee 

Applications is conducted. 

E. Additional reference documents: In 

addition to this NOGA, the CDFI Fund 

encourages interested parties to review 

the following documents, which have 

been posted on the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program page of the CDFI 

Fund’s website at http://

www.cdfifund.gov/bond. 

1. Guarantee Program Regulations. 

The regulations that govern the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program were 

published on February 5, 2013 (78 FR 

8296; 12 CFR part 1808) (the 

Regulations), and provide the regulatory 

requirements and parameters for CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program 

implementation and administration 

including general provisions, eligibility, 

eligible activities, applications for 

Guarantee and Qualified Issuer, 

evaluation and selection, terms and 

conditions of the Guarantee, Bonds, 

Bond Loans, and Secondary Loans. 

2. Application materials. Details 

regarding Qualified Issuer Application 

and Guarantee Application content 

requirements are found in this NOGA 

and the respective application materials. 

Interested parties should review the 

template Bond Documents and Bond 

Loan documents that will be used in 

connection with each Guarantee. The 

template documents are posted on the 

CDFI Fund’s website for review. Such 

documents include, among others: 

a. The Secondary Loan Requirements, 

which contain the minimum required 

criteria (in addition to the Eligible 

CDFI’s underwriting criteria) for a loan 

to be accepted as a Secondary Loan or 

Other Pledged Loan. The Secondary 

Loan Requirements include the General 

Requirements and the Underwriting 

Review Checklist; 

b. The Agreement to Guarantee, 

which describes the roles and 

responsibilities of the Qualified Issuer, 

will be signed by the Qualified Issuer 

and the Guarantor, and will include 

term sheets as exhibits that will be 

signed by each individual Eligible CDFI; 

c. The Term Sheet(s), which describe 

the material terms and conditions of the 

Bond Loan from the Qualified Issuer to 

the Eligible CDFI. The CDFI Fund 

website includes template term sheets 

for the General Recourse Structure 

(GRS), the Alternative Financial 

Structure (AFS), and for the CDFI to 

Financing Entity Asset Class utilizing 

pooled tertiary loans; 

d. The Bond Trust Indenture, which 

describes the responsibilities of the 

Master Servicer/Trustee in overseeing 

the Trust Estate and the servicing of the 

Bonds, which will be entered into by 

the Qualified Issuer and the Master 

Servicer/Trustee; 

e. The Bond Loan Agreement, which 

describes the terms and conditions of 

Bond Loans, and will be entered into by 

the Qualified Issuer and each Eligible 

CDFI that receives a Bond Loan; 

f. The Bond Purchase Agreement, 

which describes the terms and 

conditions under which the Bond 

Purchaser will purchase the Bonds 

issued by the Qualified Issuer, and will 

be signed by the Bond Purchaser, the 

Qualified Issuer, the Guarantor and the 

CDFI Fund; and 

g. The Future Advance Promissory 

Bond, which will be signed by the 

Qualified Issuer as its promise to repay 

the Bond Purchaser. The template 

documents may be updated 

periodically, as needed, and will be 

tailored, as appropriate, to the terms and 

conditions of a particular Bond, Bond 

Loan, and Guarantee. Additionally, the 

CDFI Fund may impose terms and 

conditions that address risks unique to 

the Eligible CDFI’s business model and 

target market, which may include items 

such as concentration risk of a specific 

Eligible CDFI, geography or Secondary 

Borrower. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14129 

The Bond Documents and the Bond 

Loan documents reflect the terms and 

conditions of the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program and will not be substantially 

revised or negotiated prior to execution. 

F. Frequently Asked Questions: The 

CDFI Fund may periodically post on its 

website responses to questions that are 

asked by parties interested in applying 

to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. 

G. Designated Bonding Authority: The 

CDFI Fund has determined that, for 

purposes of this NOGA, it will not 

solicit applications from entities seeking 

to serve as a Qualified Issuer in the role 

of the Designated Bonding Authority, 

pursuant to 12 CFR 1808.201, in FY 

2024. 

H. Noncompetitive process: The CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program is a noncompetitive program through which 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications will undergo a 

merit-based evaluation (meaning, 

applications will not be scored against 

each other in a competitive manner in 

which higher ranked applicants are 

favored over lower ranked applicants). 

In the event the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program receives applications 

requesting more than the amount of 

Guarantee authority, it reserves the right 

to reduce the award amount to 

applicants as necessary in order to 

provide as many awards as possible. 

I. Relationship to other CDFI Fund 

programs: 

1. Award funds received under any 

other CDFI Fund Program cannot be 

used by any participant, including 

Qualified Issuers, Eligible CDFIs, and 

Secondary Borrowers, to pay principal, 

interest, fees, administrative costs, or 

issuance costs (including Bond Issuance 

Fees) related to the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program, or to fund the RiskShare Pool for a Bond Issue. 

2. Bond Proceeds may not be used to 

refinance any projects financed and/or 

supported with proceeds from the 

Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). This 

restriction remains in place so long as 

the property or project is financed or 

supported by a CMF award, until the 

end of the defined CMF award 

investment period, or when the loan 

funded by the CMF award has been 

replaced by a newer loan for a different 

phase of the project (for instance a 

permanent loan to replace a 

construction loan). 

3. Bond Proceeds may not be used to 

refinance a leveraged loan during the 

seven-year NMTC compliance period. 

However, Bond Proceeds may be used to 

refinance a QLICI after the seven-year 

NMTC compliance period has ended, so 

long as all other programmatic 

requirements are met. 

4. The terms Qualified Equity 

Investment, Community Development 

Entity, and QLICI are defined in the 

NMTC Program’s authorizing statute, 26 

U.S.C. 45D. 

J. Relationship and interplay with 

other Federal programs and Federal 

funding: Eligible CDFIs may not use 

Bond Loans to refinance existing 

Federal debt or to service debt from 

other Federal credit programs. 

1. The CDFI Bond Guarantee Program 

underwriting process will include a 

comprehensive review of the Eligible 

CDFI’s concentration of sources of funds 

available for debt service, including the 

concentration of sources from other 

Federal programs and level of reliance 

on said sources, to determine the 

Eligible CDFI’s ability to service the 

additional debt. The review of the 

CDFI’s debt concentration could lead to 

covenants limiting the amount of the 

applicant’s bond loan debt 

concentration in their portfolio. 

2. In the event that the Eligible CDFI 

proposes to use other Federal funds to 

service Bond Loan debt or as a Credit 

Enhancement for Secondary Loans, the 

CDFI Fund may require, in its sole 

discretion, that the Eligible CDFI 

provide written assurance from such 

other Federal program in a form that is 

acceptable to the CDFI Fund and that 

the CDFI Fund may rely upon, that said 

use is permissible. 

K. Contemporaneous application 

submission: Qualified Issuer 

Applications may be submitted 

contemporaneously with Guarantee 

Applications; however, the CDFI Fund 

will review an entity’s Qualified Issuer 

Application and make its Qualified 

Issuer determination prior to approving 

a Guarantee Application. As noted 

above in D(1), review priority will be 

given to any Qualified Issuer 

Application that is accompanied by a 

Guarantee Application. 

L. Other restrictions on use of funds: 

Bond Proceeds may not be used to 

finance or refinance any trade or 

business consisting of the operation of 

any private or commercial golf course, 

country club, massage parlor, hot tub 

facility, suntan facility, racetrack or 

other facility used for gambling, or any 

store the principal business of which is 

the sale of alcoholic beverages for 

consumption off-premises. Bond 

Proceeds may not be used to finance or 

refinance tax- exempt obligations or to 

finance or refinance projects that are 

also financed by tax-exempt obligations 

if: (a) such financing or refinancing 

results in the direct or indirect 

subordination of the Bond Loan or Bond 

Issue to the tax-exempt obligations, or 

(b) such financing or refinancing results 

in a corresponding guarantee of the taxexempt obligation. Qualified Issuers and 

Eligible CDFIs must ensure that any 

financing made in conjunction with taxexempt obligations complies with CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program Regulations. 

II. General Application Information 

The following requirements apply to 

all Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications submitted 

under this NOGA, as well as any 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications submitted 

under the FY 2023 NOGA that were 

neither withdrawn nor declined in FY 

2023. 

A. CDFI Certification Requirements: 

1. In general. By statute and 

regulation, the Qualified Issuer 

applicant must be either a Certified 

CDFI (an entity that the CDFI Fund has 

officially notified that it meets all CDFI 

certification requirements as set forth in 

12 CFR 1805.201) or an entity 

designated by a Certified CDFI to issue 

Bonds on its behalf. An Eligible CDFI 

must be a Certified CDFI as of the Bond 

Issue Date and must maintain its CDFI 

certification throughout the term of the 

corresponding Bond. 

2. CDFI Certification requirements. 

Pursuant to the regulations that govern 

CDFI certification (12 CFR 1805.201), an 

entity may be certified if it is a legal 

entity (meaning, that it has properly 

filed articles of incorporation or other 

organizing documents with the State or 

other appropriate body in the 

jurisdiction in which it was legally 

established, as of the date the CDFI 

Certification Application is submitted) 

and meets the following requirements: 

a. Primary Mission requirement (12 

CFR 1805.201(b)(1)): To be a Certified 

CDFI, an entity must have a primary 

mission of promoting community 

development. In general, the entity will 

be found to meet the primary mission 

requirement if its incorporating 

documents or board-approved narrative 

statement (i.e., mission statement or 

resolution) clearly indicate that it has a 

mission of purposefully addressing the 

social and/or economic needs of LowIncome individuals, individuals who 

lack adequate access to capital and/or 

financial services, distressed 

communities, and other underserved 

markets. An Affiliate of a Controlling 

CDFI, seeking to be certified as a CDFI 

(and therefore, approved to be an 

Eligible CDFI to participate in the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program), must 

demonstrate that it meets the primary 

mission requirement on its own merit, 

pursuant to the regulations and the 

CDFI Certification Application and 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14130 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

related guidance materials posted on the 

CDFI Fund’s website. 

b. Financing Entity requirement (12 

CFR 1805.201(b)(2)): To be a Certified 

CDFI, an entity must demonstrate that 

its predominant business activity is the 

provision, in arms-length transactions, 

of Financial Products and/or Financial 

Services. On April 10, 2015, the CDFI 

Fund published a revision of 12 CFR 

1805.201(b)(2), the section of the CDFI 

certification regulation that governs the 

‘‘financing entity’’ requirement. The 

regulatory change creates a means for 

the CDFI Fund, in its discretion, to 

deem an Affiliate (meaning, in this case, 

an entity that is Controlled by a certified 

CDFI; see 12 CFR 1805.104) to have met 

the financing entity requirement based 

on the financing activity or track record 

of the Controlling CDFI (Control is 

defined in 12 CFR 1805.104), solely for 

the purpose of participating in the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program as an Eligible 

CDFI. This change is key to the creation 

of an AFS for the Bond Guarantee 

Program (see Section II(B)(2) of this 

NOGA for more information on the 

AFS). In order for the Affiliate to rely on 

the Controlling CDFI’s financing track 

record, (A) the Controlling CDFI must be 

a Certified CDFI; (B) there must be an 

operating agreement that includes 

management and ownership provisions 

in effect between the two entities (prior 

to the submission of a CDFI Certification 

Application and in form and substance 

that is acceptable to the CDFI Fund). If 

applicable, CDFI Certification 

Applications must be received by the 

CDFI Fund by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 

23, 2024. An applicant for an Affiliate 

certification must have submitted a 

CDFI Certification Application for an 

Affiliate by March 23, 2024 in order for 

it to be considered for CDFI certification 

and participation in the FY 2024 

application round of the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program. This regulatory 

provision affects only the Affiliate’s 

ability to meet the financing entity 

requirement for purposes of CDFI 

certification; said Affiliate must meet 

the other certification criteria in 

accordance with the existing regulations 

governing CDFI certification. 

i. The regulation also states that, 

solely for the purpose of participating in 

the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, the 

Affiliate’s provision of Financial 

Products and Financial Services, 

Development Services, and/or other 

similar financing transactions does not 

need to be arms-length in nature if such 

transaction is by and between the 

Affiliate and Controlling CDFI, pursuant 

to an operating agreement that (a) 

includes management and ownership 

provisions, (b) is effective prior to the 

submission of a CDFI Certification 

Application, and (c) is in form and 

substance that is acceptable to the CDFI 

Fund. 

ii. An Affiliate whose CDFI 

certification is based on the financing 

activity or track record of a Controlling 

CDFI is not eligible to receive financial 

or technical assistance awards or tax 

credit allocations under any other CDFI 

Fund program until such time that the 

Affiliate meets the financing entity 

requirement based on its own activity or 

track record. 

iii. If an Affiliate elects to satisfy the 

financing entity requirement based on 

the financing activity or track record of 

a Controlling CDFI, and if the CDFI 

Fund approves such Affiliate as an 

Eligible CDFI for the sole purpose of 

participation in the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program, said Affiliate’s CDFI 

certification will terminate if: (A) it does 

not enter into Bond Loan documents 

with its Qualified Issuer within one (1) 

year of the date that it signs the term 

sheet (which is an exhibit to the 

Agreement to Guarantee); (B) it ceases to 

be an Affiliate of the Controlling CDFI; 

or (C) it ceases to adhere to CDFI 

certification requirements. 

iv. An Affiliate electing to satisfy the 

financing entity requirement based on 

the financing activity or track record of 

a Controlling CDFI does not need to 

have completed any financing activities 

prior to the date the CDFI Certification 

Application is submitted or approved. 

However, the Affiliate and the 

Controlling CDFI must have entered into 

the operating agreement described in 

(b)(i)(B) above, prior to such date, in 

form and substance that is acceptable to 

the CDFI Fund. 

c. Target Market requirement (12 CFR 

1805.201(b)(3)): To be a Certified CDFI, 

an entity must serve at least one eligible 

Target Market (either an Investment 

Area or a Targeted Population) by 

directing at least 60.00% of all of its 

Financial Product activities (in both 

number and dollar volume of 

transactions) to one or more eligible 

Target Markets. 

i. Solely for the purpose of 

participation as an Eligible CDFI in the 

FY 2024 application round of the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program, an Affiliate of 

a Controlling CDFI may be deemed to 

meet the Target Market requirement by 

virtue of serving either: 

(A) an Investment Area through 

‘‘borrowers or investees’’ that serve the 

Investment Area or provide significant 

benefits to its residents (pursuant to 12 

CFR 1805.201(b)(3)(ii)(F)). For purposes 

of this NOGA, the term ‘‘borrower’’ or 

‘‘investee’’ includes a borrower of a loan 

originated by the Controlling CDFI that 

has been transferred to the Affiliate as 

lender (which loan must meet 

Secondary Loan Requirements), 

pursuant to an operating agreement with 

the Affiliate that includes ownership/ 

investment and management provisions, 

which agreement must be in effect prior 

to the submission of a CDFI Certification 

Application and in form and substance 

that is acceptable to the CDFI Fund. 

Loans originated by the Controlling 

CDFI do not need to be transferred prior 

to application submission; however, 

such loans must be transferred before 

certification of the Affiliate is effective. 

If an Affiliate has more than one 

Controlling CDFI, it may meet this 

Investment Area requirement through 

one or more of such Controlling CDFIs’ 

Investment Areas; or 

(B) a Targeted Population, which shall 

mean the individuals, who are Low 

Income persons or lack adequate access 

to Financial Products or Financial 

Services in the entity’s Target Market 

meeting the requirements of 12 CFR 

1805.201(b)(3)(iii) of the CDFI Program 

Regulations as designated in the 

Recipient’s most recently approved 

CDFI certification documentation. 

Pursuant to 12 CFR 

1805.201(b)(3)(iii)(B) if a loan originated 

by the Controlling CDFI has been 

transferred to the Affiliate as lender 

(which loan must meet Secondary Loan 

Requirements) and the Controlling 

CDFI’s financing entity activities serve 

the Affiliate’s Targeted Population 

pursuant to an operating agreement that 

includes ownership/investment and 

management provisions by and between 

the Affiliate and the Controlling CDFI, 

which agreement must be in effect prior 

to the submission of a CDFI Certification 

Application and in form and substance 

that is acceptable to the CDFI Fund. 

Loans originated by the Controlling 

CDFI do not need to be transferred prior 

to application submission; however, 

such loans must be transferred before 

certification of the Affiliate is effective. 

If an Affiliate has more than one 

Controlling CDFI, it may meet this 

Targeted Population requirement 

through one or more of such Controlling 

CDFIs’ Targeted Populations. 

An Affiliate that meets the Target 

Market requirement through paragraphs 

(ii) (A) or (B) above, is not eligible to 

receive financial or technical assistance 

awards or tax credit allocations under 

any other CDFI Fund program until 

such time that the Affiliate meets the 

Target Market requirements based on its 

own activity or track record. 

ii. If an Affiliate elects to satisfy the 

target market requirement based on 

paragraphs (c)(ii)(A) or (B) above, the 

Affiliate and the Controlling CDFI must 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14131 

have entered into the operating 

agreement as described above, prior to 

the date that the CDFI Certification 

Application is submitted, in form and 

substance that is acceptable to the CDFI 

Fund. 

d. Development Services requirement 

(12 CFR 1805.201(b)(4)): To be a 

Certified CDFI, an entity must provide 

Development Services in conjunction 

with its Financial Products and/or 

Financial Services. Solely for the 

purpose of participation as an Eligible 

CDFI in the FY 2024 application round 

of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, an 

Affiliate of a Controlling CDFI may be 

deemed to meet this requirement if: (i) 

its Development Services are provided 

by the Controlling CDFI pursuant to an 

operating agreement that includes 

management and ownership provisions 

with the Controlling CDFI that is 

effective prior to the submission of a 

CDFI Certification Application and in 

form and substance that is acceptable to 

the CDFI Fund and (ii) the Controlling 

CDFI must have provided Development 

Services in conjunction with the 

transactions that the Affiliate is likely to 

purchase, prior to the date of 

submission of the CDFI Certification 

Application. 

e. Accountability requirement (12 

CFR 1805.201(b)(5)): To be a Certified 

CDFI, an entity must maintain 

accountability to residents of its 

Investment Area or Targeted Population 

through representation on its governing 

board and/or advisory board(s). Solely 

for the purpose of participation as an 

Eligible CDFI in the FY 2024 application 

round of the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program, an Affiliate of a Controlling 

CDFI may be deemed to meet this 

requirement only if it has a governing 

board and/or advisory board that has the 

same composition as the Controlling 

CDFI and such governing board or 

advisory board has convened and/or 

conducted Affiliate business prior to the 

date of submission of the CDFI 

Certification Application. If an Affiliate 

has multiple Controlling CDFIs, the 

governing board and/or advisory board 

may have a mixture of representatives 

from each Controlling CDFI so long as 

there is at least one representative from 

each Controlling CDFI. 

f. Non-government Entity requirement 

(12 CFR 1805.201(b)(6)): To be a 

Certified CDFI, an entity can neither be 

a government entity nor be Controlled 

by one or more governmental entities. 

g. for the FY 2024 application round 

of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, 

only one Affiliate per Controlling CDFI 

may participate as an Eligible CDFI. 

However, there may be more than one 

Affiliate participating as an Eligible 

CDFI in any given Bond Issue. 

3. Operating agreement: An operating 

agreement between an Affiliate and its 

Controlling CDFI, as described above, 

must provide, in addition to the 

elements set forth above, among other 

items: (i) conclusory evidence that the 

Controlling CDFI Controls the Affiliate, 

through investment and/or ownership; 

(ii) explanation of all roles, 

responsibilities and activities to be 

performed by the Controlling CDFI 

including, but not limited to, 

governance, financial management, loan 

underwriting and origination, recordkeeping, insurance, treasury services, 

human resources and staffing, legal 

counsel, dispositions, marketing, 

general administration, and financial 

reporting; (iii) compensation 

arrangements; (iv) the term and 

termination provisions; (v) 

indemnification provisions, if 

applicable; (vi) management and 

ownership provisions; and (vii) default 

and recourse provisions. 

4. For more detailed information on 

CDFI certification requirements, please 

review the CDFI certification regulation 

(12 CFR 1805.201) and CDFI 

Certification Application materials/ 

guidance posted on the CDFI Fund’s 

website. Interested parties should note 

that there are specific regulations and 

requirements that apply to Depository 

Institution Holding Companies, Insured 

Depository Institutions, Insured Credit 

Unions, and State-Insured Credit 

Unions. The above certification 

requirements may be revised or further 

explained by guidance published by the 

CDFI Fund. The applicant should refer 

to such materials to ensure it meets 

certification requirements that are in 

effect when it applies. 

5. For the 2024 application round 

only, uncertified entities, including an 

Affiliate of a Controlling CDFI, that wish 

to apply to be certified and designated 

as an Eligible CDFI in the FY 2024 

application round of the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program must have submitted 

a CDFI Certification Application to the 

CDFI Fund by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 

23, 2024. Any CDFI Certification 

Application received after such date and 

time, as well as incomplete 

applications, will not be considered for 

the FY 2024 application round of the 

CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. 

6. In no event will the Secretary 

approve a Guarantee for a Bond from 

which a Bond Loan will be made to an 

entity that is not an Eligible CDFI. The 

Secretary must make FY 2024 Guarantee 

Application decisions prior to the end 

of FY 2024 (September 30, 2024), and 

the CDFI Fund must close the 

corresponding Bonds and Bond Loans, 

prior to the end of Calendar Year 2024 

(December 31, 2024). Accordingly, it is 

essential that CDFI Certification 

Applications are submitted timely and 

in complete form, with all materials and 

information needed for the CDFI Fund 

to make a certification decision. 

Information on CDFI certification, the 

CDFI Certification Application, and 

application submission instructions 

may be found on the CDFI Fund’s 

website at www.cdfifund.gov. 

B. Recourse and Collateral 

Requirements: 

1. General Recourse Structure (GRS). 

Under the GRS, the Bond is a 

nonrecourse obligation to the Qualified 

Issuer, and the Bond Loan is a full 

general recourse obligation to the 

Eligible CDFI. 

2. Alternative Financial Structure 

(AFS). An AFS can be used as a limited 

recourse option to a Controlling CDFI or 

group of Controlling CDFIs. The AFS is 

an Affiliate of a Controlling CDFI(s) that 

is created for the sole purpose of 

participation as an Eligible CDFI in the 

CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. The 

AFS must be an Affiliate of a 

Controlling CDFI(s) and must be 

certified as a CDFI in accordance with 

the requirements set forth in Section 

II(A) of this NOGA. The AFS, as the 

Eligible CDFI, provides a general full 

recourse obligation to repay the Bond 

Loan, and the Bond Loan is on the 

balance sheet of the AFS. The 

requirements for the AFS are delineated 

in the template term sheet located on 

the CDFI Fund website at https://

www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/ 

Programs/cdfi-bond/Pages/applystep.aspx#step2. 

C. Application Submission: 

1. Electronic submission. All 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications must be 

submitted through the CDFI Fund’s 

Awards Management Information 

System (AMIS). Applications sent by 

mail, fax, or other form will not be 

permitted, except in circumstances that 

the CDFI Fund, in its sole discretion, 

deems acceptable. Please note that 

Applications will not be accepted 

through Grants.gov. For more 

information on AMIS, please visit the 

AMIS Landing Page at https://

amis.cdfifund.gov. 

2. Applicant identifier numbers. 

Please note that, pursuant to Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

guidance (68 FR 38402), each Qualified 

Issuer applicant and Guarantee 

applicant must provide, as part of its 

Application, its Unique Entity Identifier 

(UEI), if applicable, as well as UEI 

numbers for its proposed Program 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14132 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, 

and each Certified CDFI that is included 

in the Qualified Issuer Application and 

Guarantee Application. In addition, 

each Application must include a valid 

and current Employer Identification 

Number (EIN), with a letter or other 

documentation from the IRS confirming 

the Qualified Issuer applicant’s EIN, as 

well as EINs for its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, 

and each Certified CDFI that is included 

in any Application. An Application that 

does not include such UEI numbers, 

EINs, and documentation is incomplete 

and will be rejected by the CDFI Fund. 

Applicants should allow sufficient time 

for the IRS and/or Dun and Bradstreet 

to respond to inquiries and/or requests 

for the required identification numbers. 

3. System for Award Management 

(SAM). Registration with SAM is 

required for each Qualified Issuer 

applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, 

and each Certified CDFI that is included 

in any Application. The CDFI Fund will 

not consider any Applications that do 

not meet the requirement that each 

entity must be properly registered before 

the date of Application submission. The 

SAM registration process may take one 

month or longer to complete. A signed 

notarized letter identifying the SAM 

authorized entity administrator for the 

entity associated with the UEI number 

is required. This requirement is 

applicable to new entities registering in 

SAM, as well as to existing entities with 

registrations being updated or renewed 

in SAM. Applicants without UEI and/or 

EIN numbers should allow for 

additional time as an applicant cannot 

register in SAM without those required 

numbers. Applicants that have 

previously completed the SAM 

registration process must verify that 

their SAM accounts are current and 

active. Each applicant must continue to 

maintain an active SAM registration 

with current information at all times 

during which it has an active Federal 

award or an Application under 

consideration by a Federal awarding 

agency. The CDFI Fund will not 

consider any applicant that fails to 

properly register or activate its SAM 

account and these restrictions also 

apply to organizations that have not yet 

received a UEI or EIN number. 

Applicants must contact SAM directly 

with questions related to registration or 

SAM account changes as the CDFI Fund 

does not maintain this system and has 

no ability to make changes or correct 

errors of any kind. For more information 

about SAM, visit https://www.sam.gov. 

4. AMIS accounts. Each Qualified 

Issuer applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, 

and each Certified CDFI that is included 

in the Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application must register 

User and Organization accounts in 

AMIS. Each such entity must be 

registered as an Organization and 

register at least one User Account in 

AMIS. As AMIS is the CDFI Fund’s 

primary means of communication with 

applicants with regard to its programs, 

each such entity must make sure that it 

updates the contact information in its 

AMIS account before any Application is 

submitted. For more information on 

AMIS, please visit the AMIS Landing 

Page at https://amis.cdfifund.gov. 

D. Form of Application: 

1. As of the date of this NOGA, the 

Qualified Issuer Application, the 

Guarantee Application, and related 

application instructions for this round 

may be found on the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program’s page on the CDFI 

Fund’s website at http://

www.cdfifund.gov/bond. 

2. Paperwork Reduction Act. Under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35), an agency may not conduct 

or sponsor a collection of information, 

and an individual is not required to 

respond to a collection of information, 

unless it displays a valid OMB control 

number. Pursuant to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, the Qualified Issuer 

Application, the Guarantee Application, 

and the Secondary Loan Requirements 

have been assigned the following 

control number: 1559–0044. 

3. Application deadlines. In order to 

be considered for the issuance of a 

Guarantee under FY 2024 program 

authority, Qualified Issuer Applications 

must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on 

April 16, 2024, and Guarantee 

Applications must be submitted by 

11:59 p.m. ET on April 23, 2024. 

Qualified Issuer Applications and 

Guarantee Applications received in FY 

2023 that were neither withdrawn nor 

declined will be considered under FY 

2024 authority. If applicable, CDFI 

Certification Applications must be 

received by the CDFI Fund by 11:59 

p.m. ET on March 23, 2024. Format. 

Detailed Qualified Issuer Application 

and Guarantee Application content 

requirements are found in the 

Applications and application guidance. 

The CDFI Fund will read only 

information requested in the 

Application and reserves the right not to 

read attachments or supplemental 

materials that have not been specifically 

requested in this NOGA, the Qualified 

Issuer, or the Guarantee Application. 

Supplemental materials or attachments 

such as letters of public support or other 

statements that are meant to bias or 

influence the Application review 

process will not be read. 

5. Application revisions. After 

submitting a Qualified Issuer 

Application or a Guarantee Application, 

the applicant will not be permitted to 

revise or modify the Application in any 

way unless authorized or requested by 

the CDFI Fund. 

6. Material changes. 

a. In the event that there are material 

changes after the submission of a 

Qualified Issuer Application prior to the 

designation as a Qualified Issuer, the 

applicant must notify the CDFI Fund of 

such material changes information in a 

timely and complete manner. The CDFI 

Fund will evaluate such material 

changes, along with the Qualified Issuer 

Application, to approve or deny the 

designation of the Qualified Issuer. 

b. In the event that there are material 

changes after the submission of a 

Guarantee Application (including, but 

not limited to, a revision of the Capital 

Distribution Plan or a change in the 

Eligible CDFIs that are included in the 

Application) prior to or after the 

designation as a Qualified Issuer or 

approval of a Guarantee Application or 

Guarantee, the applicant must notify the 

CDFI Fund of such material changes 

information in a timely and complete 

manner. The Guarantor will evaluate 

such material changes, along with the 

Guarantee Application, to approve or 

deny the Guarantee Application and/or 

determine whether to modify the terms 

and conditions of the Agreement to 

Guarantee. This evaluation may result 

in a delay of the approval or denial of 

a Guarantee Application. 

E. Eligibility and completeness review: 

The CDFI Fund will review each 

Qualified Issuer and Guarantee 

Application to determine whether it is 

complete and the applicant meets 

eligibility requirements described in the 

Regulations, this NOGA, and the 

Applications. If the CDFI Fund 

determines that additional information 

is needed to assess the Qualified Issuer’s 

and/or the Certified CDFIs’ ability to 

participate in and comply with the 

requirements of the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program, the CDFI Fund may 

require that the Qualified Issuer furnish 

additional, clarifying, confirming or 

supplemental information. Until such 

information is provided to the CDFI 

Fund, the Qualified Issuer Application 

and/or Guarantee Application will not 

be moved forward for the substantive 

review process. If the CDFI Fund 

requests such additional, clarifying, 

confirming or supplemental 

information, the Qualified Issuer must 

provide it within the timeframes 

requested by the CDFI Fund or the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14133 

respective Application will be deemed 

incomplete. An incomplete Qualified 

Issuer Application or Guarantee 

Application, or one that does not meet 

eligibility requirements, will be rejected. 

F. Regulated entities: In the case of 

Qualified Issuer applicants, proposed 

Program Administrators, proposed 

Servicers, and Certified CDFIs that are 

included in the Qualified Issuer 

Application or Guarantee Application 

that are Insured Depository Institutions 

and Insured Credit Unions, the CDFI 

Fund will consider information 

provided by, and views of, the 

Appropriate Federal and State Banking 

Agencies. If any such entity is a CDFI 

bank holding company, the CDFI Fund 

will consider information provided by 

the Appropriate Federal Banking 

Agencies of the CDFI bank holding 

company and its CDFI bank(s). 

Throughout the Application review 

process, the CDFI Fund will consider 

financial safety and soundness 

information from the Appropriate 

Federal Banking Agency. Each regulated 

applicant must have a composite 

CAMELS/CAMEL rating of at least ‘‘3’’ 

and/or no material concerns from its 

regulator. The CDFI Fund also reserves 

the right to require a regulated applicant 

to improve safety and soundness 

conditions prior to being approved as a 

Qualified Issuer or Eligible CDFI. In 

addition, the CDFI Fund will take into 

consideration Community Reinvestment 

Act assessments of Insured Depository 

Institutions and/or their Affiliates. 

G. Prior CDFI Fund recipients: All 

applicants must be aware that success 

under any of the CDFI Fund’s other 

programs is not indicative of success 

under this NOGA. Prior CDFI Fund 

recipients should note the following: 

1. Pending resolution of default or 

noncompliance. If a Qualified Issuer 

applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, or 

any of the Certified CDFIs included in 

the Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application is a prior 

recipient or allocatee under any CDFI 

Fund program and (i) it has submitted 

reports to the CDFI Fund that 

demonstrate default or noncompliance 

with a previously executed agreement 

with the CDFI Fund, and (ii) the CDFI 

Fund has yet to make a final 

determination as to whether the entity 

is in default or noncompliant with its 

previously executed agreement, the 

CDFI Fund will consider the Qualified 

Issuer Application or Guarantee 

Application pending full resolution, in 

the sole determination of the CDFI 

Fund, of the default or noncompliance. 

2. Previous findings of default or 

noncompliance. If a Qualified Issuer 

applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, or 

any of the Certified CDFIs included in 

the Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application is a prior 

recipient or allocatee under any CDFI 

Fund program and the CDFI Fund has 

made a final determination that the 

entity is in default or noncompliant 

with a previously executed agreement 

with the CDFI Fund, but has not 

notified the entity that it is ineligible to 

apply for future CDFI Fund program 

awards or allocations, the CDFI Fund 

will consider the Qualified Issuer 

Application or Guarantee Application. 

However, it is strongly advised that the 

entity take action to address such 

default or noncompliance finding, as 

repeat findings of default or 

noncompliance may result in the CDFI 

Fund determining the entity ineligible 

to participate in future CDFI Fund 

program rounds, which could result in 

any pending applications being deemed 

ineligible for further review. The CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program staff cannot 

resolve compliance matters; instead, 

please contact the CDFI Fund’s Office of 

Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation 

Unit (OCME) by AMIS Service Request 

if your organization has questions about 

its current compliance status or has 

been found not in compliance with a 

previously executed agreement with the 

CDFI Fund. 

3. Ineligibility due to default or 

noncompliance. The CDFI Fund will not 

consider a Qualified Issuer Application 

or Guarantee Application if the 

applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, or 

any of the Certified CDFIs included in 

the Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application, is a prior 

recipient or allocatee under any CDFI 

Fund program and if, as of the date of 

Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application submission, (i) 

the CDFI Fund has made a 

determination that such entity is in 

default or noncompliant with a 

previously executed agreement and (ii) 

the CDFI Fund has provided written 

notification that such entity is ineligible 

to apply for any future CDFI Fund 

program awards or allocations. Such 

entities will be ineligible to submit a 

Qualified Issuer or Guarantee 

Application, or be included in such 

submission, as the case may be, for such 

time period as specified by the CDFI 

Fund in writing. 

H. Review of Bond and Bond Loan 

documents: Each Qualified Issuer and 

proposed Eligible CDFI will be required 

to certify that its appropriate senior 

management, and its respective legal 

counsel, has read the Regulations (set 

forth at 12 CFR part 1808, as well as the 

CDFI certification regulations set forth 

at 12 CFR 1805.201, as amended, and 

the environmental quality regulations 

set forth at 12 CFR part 1815) and the 

template Bond Documents and Bond 

Loan documents posted on the CDFI 

Fund’s website including, but not 

limited to, the following: Bond Trust 

Indenture, Supplemental Indenture, 

Bond Loan Agreement, Promissory 

Note, Bond Purchase Agreement, 

Designation Notice, Secretary’s 

Guarantee, Collateral Assignment, 

Reimbursement Note, Opinion of Bond 

Counsel, Opinion of Counsel to the 

Borrower, Escrow Agreement, and 

Closing Checklist. 

I. Contact the CDFI Fund: A Qualified 

Issuer applicant, its proposed Program 

Administrator, its proposed Servicer, or 

any Certified CDFIs included in the 

Qualified Issuer Application or 

Guarantee Application that are prior 

CDFI Fund recipients and/or allocatees 

are advised to: (i) comply with 

requirements specified in CDFI Fund 

assistance, allocation, and/or award 

agreement(s), and (ii) contact the CDFI 

Fund to ensure that all necessary 

actions are underway for the 

disbursement or deobligation of any 

outstanding balance of said prior 

award(s). Any such parties that are 

unsure about the disbursement status of 

any prior award should submit a Service 

Request through that organization’s 

AMIS Account. 

All outstanding reporting and 

compliance questions should be 

directed to the Office of Compliance 

Monitoring and Evaluation help desk by 

AMIS Service Requests. The CDFI Fund 

will respond to applicants’ reporting, 

compliance, or disbursement questions 

between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 

p.m. ET, starting on the date of the 

publication of this NOGA. 

J. Evaluating prior award 

performance: In the case of a Qualified 

Issuer, a proposed Program 

Administrator, a proposed Servicer, or 

Certified CDFI that has received awards 

from other Federal programs, the CDFI 

Fund reserves the right to contact 

officials from the appropriate Federal 

agency or agencies to determine 

whether the entity is in compliance 

with current or prior award agreements, 

and to take such information into 

consideration before issuing a 

Guarantee. In the case of such an entity 

that has previously received funding 

through any CDFI Fund program, the 

CDFI Fund will review the entity’s 

compliance history with the CDFI Fund, 

including any history of providing late 

reports, and consider such history in the 

context of organizational capacity and 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14134 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

the ability to meet future reporting 

requirements. 

The CDFI Fund may also bar from 

consideration any such entity that has, 

in any proceeding instituted against it 

in, by, or before any court, 

governmental, or administrative body or 

agency, received a final determination 

within the three years prior to the date 

of publication of this NOGA indicating 

that the entity violated any federal civil 

rights laws or regulations, including, but 

not limited, to discrimination under (i) 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), 

which prohibits discrimination on the 

basis of race, color, or national origin; 

(ii) Title IX of the Education 

Amendments of 1972, as amended (20 

U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), which prohibits 

discrimination on the basis of sex; (iii) 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794) or the 

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 

as amended (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), 

both of which prohibits discrimination 

on the basis of disability; 

(iv) the Age Discrimination Act of 

1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. 6101– 

6107), which prohibits discrimination 

on the basis of age; (v) the Drug Abuse 

Office and Treatment Act of 1972 (Pub. 

L. 92–255), as amended, relating to 

nondiscrimination on the basis of drug 

abuse; (vi) the Comprehensive Alcohol 

Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, 

Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 

1970 (Pub. L. 91–616), as amended, 

relating to nondiscrimination on the 

basis of alcohol abuse or alcoholism; 

(vii) Sections 523 and 527 of the Public 

Health Service Act of 1912 (42 U.S.C. 

290dd–3 and 290ee–3), as amended, 

relating to confidentiality of alcohol and 

drug abuse patient records; or (viii) Title 

VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 

U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), as amended, 

relating to nondiscrimination in the 

sale, rental or financing of housing; 

K. Civil Rights and Diversity: Any 

person who is eligible to receive 

benefits or services from the CDFI Fund 

or Recipients under any of its programs 

or activities is entitled to those benefits 

or services without being subject to 

prohibited discrimination. The 

Department of the Treasury’s Office of 

Civil Rights and Equal Employment 

Opportunity enforces various Federal 

statutes and regulations that prohibit 

discrimination in financially assisted 

and conducted programs and activities 

of the CDFI Fund. If a person believes 

that they have been subjected to 

discrimination and/or reprisal because 

of membership in a protected group, 

they may file a complaint with: Director, 

Office of Civil Rights, and Equal 

Employment Opportunity, 1500 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 

20220 or (202) 622–1160 (not a toll-free 

number). 

L. Statutory and national policy 

requirements: The CDFI Fund will 

manage and administer the Federal 

award in a manner so as to ensure that 

Federal funding is expended and 

associated programs are implemented in 

full accordance with the U.S. 

Constitution, Federal Law, and public 

policy requirements: including, but not 

limited to, those protecting free speech, 

religious liberty, public welfare, the 

environment, and prohibiting 

discrimination. 

M. Changes to review procedures: The 

CDFI Fund reserves the right to change 

its completeness, eligibility and 

evaluation criteria, and procedures if 

the CDFI Fund deems it appropriate. If 

such changes materially affect the CDFI 

Fund’s decision to approve or deny a 

Qualified Issuer Application, the CDFI 

Fund will provide information 

regarding the changes through the 

NOGA or direct communication to 

applicants, as appropriate. 

N. Decisions are final: The CDFI 

Fund’s Qualified Issuer Application 

decisions are final. The Guarantor’s 

Guarantee Application decisions are 

final. There is no right to appeal the 

decisions. Any applicant that is not 

approved by the CDFI Fund or the 

Guarantor may submit a new 

Application and will be considered 

based on the newly submitted 

Application. Such newly submitted 

Applications will be reviewed along 

with all other pending Applications in 

the order in which they are received, or 

by such other criteria that the CDFI 

Fund may establish, in its sole 

discretion. 

III. Qualified Issuer Application 

A. General: This NOGA invites 

interested parties to submit a Qualified 

Issuer Application to be approved as a 

Qualified Issuer under the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program. 

1. Qualified Issuer. The Qualified 

Issuer is a Certified CDFI, or an entity 

designated by a Certified CDFI to issue 

Bonds on its behalf, that meets the 

requirements of the Regulations and this 

NOGA, and that has been approved by 

the CDFI Fund pursuant to review and 

evaluation of its Qualified Issuer 

Application. The Qualified Issuer will, 

among other duties: (i) organize the 

Eligible CDFIs that have designated it to 

serve as their Qualified Issuer; (ii) 

prepare and submit a complete and 

timely Qualified Issuer and Guarantee 

Application to the CDFI Fund; (iii) if the 

Qualified Issuer Application is 

approved by the CDFI Fund and the 

Guarantee Application is approved by 

the Guarantor, prepare the Bond Issue; 

(iv) manage all Bond Issue servicing, 

administration, and reporting functions; 

(v) make Bond Loans; (vi) oversee the 

financing or refinancing of Secondary 

Loans; (vii) ensure compliance 

throughout the duration of the Bond 

with all provisions of the Regulations, 

and Bond Documents and Bond Loan 

Documents entered into between the 

Guarantor, the Qualified Issuer, and the 

Eligible CDFI; and (viii) ensure that the 

Master Servicer/Trustee complies with 

the Bond Trust Indenture and all other 

applicable regulations. Further, the role 

of the Qualified Issuer also is to ensure 

that its proposed Eligible CDFI 

applicants possess adequate and well 

performing assets to support the debt 

service of the proposed Bond Loan. 

2. Qualified Issuer Application. The 

Qualified Issuer Application is the 

document that an entity seeking to serve 

as a Qualified Issuer submits to the 

CDFI Fund to apply to be approved as 

a Qualified Issuer prior to consideration 

of a Guarantee Application. 

3. Qualified Issuer Application 

evaluation, general. Each Qualified 

Issuer Application will be evaluated by 

the CDFI Fund and, if acceptable, the 

applicant will be approved as a 

Qualified Issuer, in the sole discretion 

of the CDFI Fund. The CDFI Fund’s 

Qualified Issuer Application review and 

evaluation process is based on 

established procedures, which may 

include interviews of applicants and/or 

site visits to applicants conducted by 

the CDFI Fund. Through the 

Application review process, the CDFI 

Fund will evaluate Qualified Issuer 

applicants on a merit basis and in a fair 

and consistent manner. Each Qualified 

Issuer applicant will be reviewed on its 

ability to successfully carry out the 

responsibilities of a Qualified Issuer 

throughout the life of the Bond. The 

Applicant must currently meet the 

criteria established in the Regulations to 

be deemed a Qualified Issuer. Qualified 

Issuer Applications that are forwardlooking or speculate as to the eventual 

acquisition of the required capabilities 

and criteria are unlikely to be approved. 

Qualified Issuer Application processing 

will be initiated in chronological order 

by date of receipt; however, Qualified 

Issuer Applications that are incomplete 

or require the CDFI Fund to request 

additional or clarifying information may 

delay the ability of the CDFI Fund to 

deem the Qualified Issuer Application 

complete and move it to the next phase 

of review. Submitting a substantially 

incomplete application earlier than 

other applicants does not ensure first 

approval. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14135 

B. Qualified Issuer Application: 

Eligibility: 

1. CDFI certification requirements. 

The Qualified Issuer applicant must be 

a Certified CDFI or an entity designated 

by a Certified CDFI to issue Bonds on 

its behalf. 

2. Designation and attestation by 

Certified CDFIs. An entity seeking to be 

approved by the CDFI Fund as a 

Qualified Issuer must be designated as 

a Qualified Issuer by at least one 

Certified CDFI. A Qualified Issuer may 

not designate itself. The Qualified Issuer 

applicant will prepare and submit a 

complete and timely Qualified Issuer 

Application to the CDFI Fund in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

Regulations, this NOGA, and the 

Application. A Certified CDFI must 

attest in the Qualified Issuer 

Application that it has designated the 

Qualified Issuer to act on its behalf and 

that the information in the Qualified 

Issuer Application regarding it is true, 

accurate, and complete. 

C. Substantive review and approval 

process: 

1. Substantive review. 

a. If the CDFI Fund determines that 

the Qualified Issuer Application is 

complete and eligible, the CDFI Fund 

will undertake a substantive review in 

accordance with the criteria and 

procedures described in the 

Regulations, this NOGA, the Qualified 

Issuer Application, and CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program policies. 

b. As part of the substantive 

evaluation process, the CDFI Fund 

reserves the right to contact the 

Qualified Issuer applicant (as well as its 

proposed Program Administrator, its 

proposed Servicer, and each designating 

Certified CDFI in the Qualified Issuer 

Application) by telephone, email, mail, 

or through on-site visits for the purpose 

of obtaining additional, clarifying, 

confirming, or supplemental application 

information. The CDFI Fund reserves 

the right to collect such additional, 

clarifying, confirming, or supplemental 

information from said entities as it 

deems appropriate. If contacted for 

additional, clarifying, confirming, or 

supplemental information, said entities 

must respond within the time 

parameters set by the CDFI Fund or the 

Qualified Issuer Application will be 

rejected. 

2. Qualified Issuer criteria. All 

materials provided in the Qualified 

Issuer Application will be used to 

evaluate the applicant. Qualified Issuer 

determinations will be made based on 

Qualified Issuer applicants’ experience 

and expertise, in accordance with the 

following criteria: 

a. Organizational capability. 

i. The Qualified Issuer applicant must 

demonstrate that it has the appropriate 

expertise, capacity, experience, and 

qualifications to issue Bonds for Eligible 

Purposes, or is otherwise qualified to 

serve as Qualified Issuer, as well as 

manage the Bond Issue on the terms and 

conditions set forth in the Regulations, 

this NOGA, and the Bond Documents, 

satisfactory to the CDFI Fund. 

ii. The Qualified Issuer applicant 

must demonstrate that it has the 

appropriate expertise, capacity, 

experience, and qualifications to 

originate, underwrite, service and 

monitor Bond Loans for Eligible 

Purposes, targeted to Low-Income Areas 

and Underserved Rural Areas. 

iii. The Qualified Issuer applicant 

must demonstrate that it has the 

appropriate expertise, capacity, 

experience, and qualifications to 

manage the disbursement process set 

forth in the Regulations at 12 CFR 

1808.302 and 1808.307. 

b. Servicer. The Qualified Issuer 

applicant must demonstrate that it has 

(either directly or contractually through 

another designated entity) the 

appropriate expertise, capacity, 

experience, and qualifications, or is 

otherwise qualified to serve as Servicer. 

The Qualified Issuer Application must 

provide information that demonstrates 

that the Qualified Issuer’s Servicer has 

the expertise, capacity, experience, and 

qualifications necessary to perform 

certain required administrative duties 

(including, but not limited to, Bond 

Loan servicing functions). 

c. Program Administrator. The 

Qualified Issuer applicant must 

demonstrate that it has (either directly 

or contractually through another 

designated entity) the appropriate 

expertise, capacity, experience, and 

qualifications, or is otherwise qualified 

to serve as Program Administrator. The 

Qualified Issuer Application must 

provide information that demonstrates 

that the Qualified Issuer’s Program 

Administrator has the expertise, 

capacity, experience, and qualifications 

necessary to perform certain required 

administrative duties (including, but not 

limited to, compliance monitoring and 

reporting functions). 

d. Strategic alignment. The Qualified 

Issuer applicant will be evaluated on its 

strategic alignment with the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program on factors that 

include, but are not limited to: (i) its 

mission’s strategic alignment with 

community and economic development 

objectives set forth in the Riegle Act at 

12 U.S.C. 4701; (ii) its strategy for 

deploying the entirety of funds that may 

become available to the Qualified Issuer 

through the proposed Bond Issue; (iii) 

its experience providing up to 30-year 

capital to CDFIs or other borrowers in 

Low-Income Areas or Underserved 

Rural Areas as such terms are defined in 

the Regulations at 12 CFR 1808.102; (iv) 

its track record of activities relevant to 

its stated strategy; and (v) other factors 

relevant to the Qualified Issuer’s 

strategic alignment with the program. 

e. Experience. The Qualified Issuer 

applicant will be evaluated on factors 

that demonstrate that it has previous 

experience: (i) performing the duties of 

a Qualified Issuer including issuing 

bonds, loan servicing, program 

administration, underwriting, financial 

reporting, and loan administration; (ii) 

lending in Low-Income Areas and 

Underserved Rural Areas; and (iii) 

indicating that the Qualified Issuer’s 

current principals and team members 

have successfully performed the 

required duties, and that previous 

experience is applicable to the current 

principals and team members. 

f. Management and staffing. The 

Qualified Issuer applicant must 

demonstrate that it has sufficiently 

strong management and staffing 

capacity to undertake the duties of 

Qualified Issuer. The applicant must 

also demonstrate that its proposed 

Program Administrator and its proposed 

Servicer have sufficiently strong 

management and staffing capacity to 

undertake their respective requirements 

under the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program. Strong management and 

staffing capacity is evidenced by factors 

that include, but are not limited to: (i) 

a sound track record of delivering on 

past performance; (ii) a documented 

succession plan; (iii) organizational 

stability including staff retention; and 

(iv) a clearly articulated, reasonable, and 

well- documented staffing plan. 

g. Financial strength. The Qualified 

Issuer applicant must demonstrate the 

strength of its financial capacity and 

activities including, among other items, 

financially sound business practices 

relative to the industry norm for bond 

issuers, as evidenced by reports of 

Appropriate Federal Banking Agencies, 

Appropriate State Agencies, or auditors. 

Such financially sound business 

practices will demonstrate: (i) the 

financial wherewithal to perform 

activities related to the Bond Issue such 

as administration and servicing; (ii) the 

ability to originate, underwrite, close, 

and disburse loans in a prudent manner; 

(iii) whether the applicant is depending 

on external funding sources and the 

reliability of long-term access to such 

funding; (iv) whether there are 

foreseeable counterparty issues or credit 

concerns that are likely to affect the 

applicant’s financial stability; and (v) a 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14136 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

budget that reflects reasonable 

assumptions about upfront costs as well 

as ongoing expenses and revenues. 

h. Systems and information 

technology. The Qualified Issuer 

applicant must demonstrate that it (as 

well as its proposed Program 

Administrator and its proposed 

Servicer) has, among other things: (i) a 

strong information technology capacity 

and the ability to manage loan servicing, 

administration, management, and 

document retention; (ii) appropriate 

office infrastructure and related 

technology to carry out the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program activities; and (iii) 

sufficient backup and disaster recovery 

systems to maintain uninterrupted 

business operations. 

i. Pricing structure. The Qualified 

Issuer applicant must provide its 

proposed pricing structure for 

performing the duties of Qualified 

Issuer, including the pricing for the 

roles of Program Administrator and 

Servicer. Although the pricing structure 

and fees shall be decided by negotiation 

between market participants without 

interference or approval by the CDFI 

Fund, the CDFI Fund will evaluate 

whether the Qualified Issuer applicant’s 

proposed pricing structure is feasible to 

carry out the responsibilities of a 

Qualified Issuer over the life of the 

Bond to help ensure sound 

implementation of the program. 

j. Other criteria. The Qualified Issuer 

applicant must meet such other criteria 

as may be required by the CDFI Fund, 

as set forth in the Qualified Issuer 

Application or required by the CDFI 

Fund in its sole discretion, for the 

purposes of evaluating the merits of a 

Qualified Issuer Application. The CDFI 

Fund may request an on-site review of 

Qualified Issuer applicant to confirm 

materials provided in the written 

application, as well as to gather 

additional due diligence information. 

The on-site reviews are a critical 

component of the application review 

process and will generally be conducted 

for all applicants not regulated by an 

Appropriate Federal Banking Agency or 

Appropriate State Agency. The CDFI 

Fund reserves the right to conduct a site 

visit of regulated entities, in its sole 

discretion. 

k. Third-party data sources. The CDFI 

Fund, in its sole discretion, may 

consider information from third-party 

sources including, but not limited to, 

periodicals or publications, publicly 

available data sources, or subscriptions 

services for additional information 

about the Qualified Issuer applicant, the 

proposed Program Administrator, the 

proposed Servicer, and each Certified 

CDFI that is included in the Qualified 

Issuer Application. Any additional 

information received from such thirdparty sources will be reviewed and 

evaluated through a systematic and 

formalized process. 

D. Notification of Qualified Issuer 

Determination: Each Qualified Issuer 

applicant will be informed of the CDFI 

Fund’s decision in writing, by email 

using the addresses maintained in the 

entity’s AMIS account. The CDFI Fund 

will not notify the proposed Program 

Administrator, the proposed Servicer, or 

the Certified CDFIs included in the 

Qualified Issuer Application of its 

decision regarding the Qualified Issuer 

Application; such contacts are the 

responsibility of the Qualified Issuer 

applicant. 

E. Qualified Issuer Application 

Rejection: In addition to substantive 

reasons based on the merits of its 

review, the CDFI Fund reserves the right 

to reject a Qualified Issuer Application 

if information (including administrative 

errors) comes to the attention of the 

CDFI Fund that adversely affects an 

applicant’s eligibility, adversely affects 

the CDFI Fund’s evaluation of a 

Qualified Issuer Application, or 

indicates fraud or mismanagement on 

the part of a Qualified Issuer applicant 

or its proposed Program Administrator, 

its proposed Servicer, and any Certified 

CDFI included in the Qualified Issuer 

Application. If the CDFI Fund 

determines that any portion of the 

Qualified Issuer Application is incorrect 

in any material respect, the CDFI Fund 

reserves the right, in its sole discretion, 

to reject the Application. 

IV. Guarantee Applications 

A. This NOGA invites Qualified 

Issuers to submit a Guarantee 

Application to be approved for a 

Guarantee under the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program. 

1. Guarantee Application. 

a. The Guarantee Application is the 

application document that a Qualified 

Issuer (in collaboration with the Eligible 

CDFI(s) that seek to be included in the 

proposed Bond Issue) must submit to 

the CDFI Fund in order to apply for a 

Guarantee. The Qualified Issuer shall 

provide all required information in its 

Guarantee Application to establish that 

it meets all criteria set forth in the 

Regulations at 12 CFR 1808.501 and this 

NOGA and can carry out all CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program requirements 

including, but not limited to, 

information that demonstrates that the 

Qualified Issuer has the appropriate 

expertise, capacity, and experience and 

is qualified to make, administer and 

service Bond Loans for Eligible 

Purposes. An Eligible CDFI may be an 

existing certified or certifiable CDFI (the 

GRS), or the Eligible CDFI may be an 

Affiliate of a Controlling CDFI(s) that is 

created for the sole purpose of 

participation as an Eligible CDFI in the 

CDFI Fund Bond Guarantee Program 

(the AFS; see Section II(B) of this NOGA 

for Recourse and Collateral 

Requirements and Section II(A) of this 

NOGA for certification requirements for 

certifiable CDFIs and Affiliates of 

Controlling CDFIs). 

b. The Guarantee Application 

comprises a Capital Distribution Plan 

and at least one Secondary Capital 

Distribution Plan, as well as all other 

requirements set forth in this NOGA or 

as may be required by the Guarantor and 

the CDFI Fund in their sole discretion, 

for the evaluation and selection of 

Guarantee applicants. 

2. Guarantee Application evaluation, 

general. The Guarantee Application 

review and evaluation process will be 

based on established standard 

procedures, which may include 

interviews of applicants and/or site 

visits to applicants conducted by the 

CDFI Fund. Through the Application 

review process, the CDFI Fund will 

evaluate Guarantee applicants on a 

merit basis and in a fair and consistent 

manner. Each Guarantee applicant will 

be reviewed on its ability to successfully 

implement and carry out the activities 

proposed in its Guarantee Application 

throughout the life of the Bond. Eligible 

CDFIs must currently meet the criteria 

established in the Regulations to 

participate in the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program. Guarantee Applications that 

are forward-looking or speculate as to 

the eventual acquisition of the required 

capabilities and criteria by the Eligible 

CDFI(s) are unlikely to be approved. 

Guarantee Application processing will 

be initiated in chronological order by 

date of receipt; however, Guarantee 

Applications that are incomplete or 

require the CDFI Fund to request 

additional or clarifying information may 

delay the ability of the CDFI Fund to 

deem the Guarantee Application 

complete and move it to the next phase 

of review. Submitting a substantially 

incomplete application earlier than 

other applicants does not ensure first 

approval. 

B. Guarantee Application; Eligibility: 

1. Eligibility; CDFI certification 

requirements. If approved for a 

Guarantee, each Eligible CDFI must be 

a Certified CDFI as of the Bond Issue 

Date and must maintain its respective 

CDFI certification throughout the term 

of the corresponding Bond. For more 

information on CDFI Certification and 

the certification of affiliated entities, 

including the deadlines for submission 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14137 

of certification applications, see part II 

of this NOGA. 

2. Qualified Issuer as Eligible CDFI. A 

Qualified Issuer may not participate as 

an Eligible CDFI within its own Bond 

Issue, but may participate as an Eligible 

CDFI in a Bond Issue managed by 

another Qualified Issuer. 

3. Attestation by proposed Eligible 

CDFIs. Each proposed Eligible CDFI 

must attest in the Guarantee Application 

that it has designated the Qualified 

Issuer to act on its behalf and that the 

information pertaining to the Eligible 

CDFI in the Guarantee Application is 

true, accurate and complete. Each 

proposed Eligible CDFI must also attest 

in the Guarantee Application that it will 

use Bond Loan proceeds for Eligible 

Purposes and that Secondary Loans will 

be financed or refinanced in accordance 

with the applicable Secondary Loan 

Requirements. 

C. Guarantee Application; 

Preparation: When preparing the 

Guarantee Application, the Eligible 

CDFIs and Qualified Issuer must 

collaborate to determine the 

composition and characteristics of the 

Bond Issue, ensuring compliance with 

the Act, the Regulations, and this 

NOGA. The Qualified Issuer is 

responsible for the collection, 

preparation, verification, and 

submission of the Eligible CDFI 

information that is presented in the 

Guarantee Application. The Qualified 

Issuer will submit the Guarantee 

Application for the proposed Bond 

Issue, including any information 

provided by the proposed Eligible 

CDFIs. In addition, the Qualified Issuer 

will serve as the primary point of 

contact with the CDFI Fund during the 

Guarantee Application review and 

evaluation process. 

D. Review and approval process: 

1. Substantive review. 

a. If the CDFI Fund determines that 

the Guarantee Application is complete 

and eligible, the CDFI Fund will 

undertake a substantive review in 

accordance with the criteria and 

procedures described in the Regulations 

at 12 CFR 1808.501, this NOGA, and the 

Guarantee Application. The substantive 

review of the Guarantee Application 

will include due diligence, 

underwriting, credit risk review, and 

Federal credit subsidy calculation, in 

order to determine the feasibility and 

risk of the proposed Bond Issue, as well 

as the strength and capacity of the 

Qualified Issuer and each proposed 

Eligible CDFI. Each proposed Eligible 

CDFI will be evaluated independently of 

the other proposed Eligible CDFIs 

within the proposed Bond Issue; 

however, the Bond Issue must then 

cumulatively meet all requirements for 

Guarantee approval. In general, 

applicants are advised that proposed 

Bond Issues that include a large number 

of proposed Eligible CDFIs are likely to 

substantially increase the review period. 

b. As part of the substantive review 

process, the CDFI Fund may contact the 

Qualified Issuer (as well as the proposed 

Eligible CDFIs included in the 

Guarantee Application) by telephone, 

email, mail, or through an on-site visit 

for the sole purpose of obtaining 

additional, clarifying, confirming, or 

supplemental application information. 

The CDFI Fund reserves the right to 

collect such additional, clarifying, 

confirming or supplemental information 

as it deems appropriate. If contacted for 

additional, clarifying, confirming, or 

supplemental information, said entities 

must respond within the time 

parameters set by the CDFI Fund or the 

Guarantee Application will be rejected. 

2. Guarantee Application criteria. 

a. In general, a Guarantee Application 

will be evaluated based on the strength 

and feasibility of the proposed Bond 

Issue, as well as the creditworthiness 

and performance of the Qualified Issuer 

and the proposed Eligible CDFIs. 

Guarantee Applications must 

demonstrate that each proposed Eligible 

CDFI has the capacity for its respective 

Bond Loan to be a secured, general 

recourse obligation of the proposed 

Eligible CDFI and to deploy the Bond 

Loan proceeds within the required 

disbursement timeframe as described in 

the Regulations. Unless receiving 

significant support from a Controlling 

CDFI, or Credit Enhancements, Eligible 

CDFIs should not request Bond Loans 

greater than their current total asset size 

or which would otherwise significantly 

impair their net asset or net equity 

position. In general, an applicant 

requesting a Bond Loan more than 50% 

of its total asset size should be prepared 

to clearly demonstrate that it has a 

reasonable plan to scale its operations 

prudently and in a manner that does not 

impair its net asset or net equity 

position. Further, an entity with a 

limited operating history or a history of 

operating losses is unlikely to meet the 

strength and feasibility requirements of 

the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, 

unless it receives significant support 

from a Controlling CDFI, or Credit 

Enhancements. 

b. The Capital Distribution Plan must 

demonstrate the Qualified Issuer’s 

comprehensive plan for lending, 

disbursing, servicing and monitoring 

each Bond Loan in the Bond Issue. It 

includes, among other information, the 

following components: 

i. Statement of Proposed Sources and 

Uses of Funds: Pursuant to the 

requirements set forth in the 

Regulations at 12 CFR1808.102(bb) and 

1808.301, the Qualified Issuer must 

provide: (A) a description of the overall 

plan for the Bond Issue; (B) a 

description of the proposed uses of 

Bond Proceeds and proposed sources of 

funds to repay principal and interest on 

the proposed Bond and Bond Loans; (C) 

a certification that 100% of the 

principal amount of the proposed Bond 

will be used to make Bond Loans for 

Eligible Purposes on the Bond Issue 

Date; and (D) description of the extent 

to which the proposed Bond Loans will 

serve Low-Income Areas or Underserved 

Rural Areas; 

ii. Bond Issue Qualified Issuer cash 

flow model: The Qualified Issuer must 

provide a cash flow model displaying 

the orderly repayment of the Bond and 

the Bond Loans according to their 

respective terms. The cash flow model 

shall include disbursement and 

repayment of Bonds, Bond Loans, and 

Secondary Loans. The cash flow model 

shall match the aggregated cash flows 

from the Secondary Capital Distribution 

Plans of each of the underlying Eligible 

CDFIs in the Bond Issue pool. Such 

information must describe the expected 

distribution of asset classes to which 

each Eligible CDFI expects to disburse 

funds, the proposed disbursement 

schedule, quarterly or semi-annual 

amortization schedules, interest-only 

periods, maturity date of each advance 

of funds, and assumed net interest 

margin on Secondary Loans above the 

assumed Bond Loan rate; 

iii. Organizational capacity: If not 

submitted concurrently, the Qualified 

Issuer must attest that no material 

changes have occurred since the time 

that it submitted the Qualified Issuer 

Application; 

iv. Credit Enhancement (if 

applicable): The Qualified Issuer must 

provide information about the adequacy 

of proposed risk mitigation provisions 

designed to protect the financial 

interests of the Federal Government, 

either directly or indirectly through 

supporting the financial strength of the 

Bond Issue. This includes, but is not 

limited to, the amount and quality of 

any Credit Enhancements, terms and 

specific conditions such as renewal 

options, and any limiting conditions or 

revocability by the provider of the 

Credit Enhancement. For any thirdparty providing a Credit Enhancement, 

the Qualified Issuer must provide the 

following information on the thirdparty: most recent three years of audited 

financial statements, a brief analysis of 

the such entity’s creditworthiness, and 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14138 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

an executed letter of intent from such 

entity that indicates the terms and 

conditions of the Credit Enhancement. 

Any Credit Enhancement must be 

pledged, as part of the Trust Estate, to 

the Master Servicer/Trustee for the 

benefit of the Federal Financing Bank; 

v. Proposed Term Sheets: The CDFI 

Fund website includes template term 

sheets for the GRS, the AFS, and the 

asset class CDFI to Financing Entity 

utilizing pooled tertiary loans. For each 

Eligible CDFI that is part of the 

proposed Bond Issue, the Qualified 

Issuer must submit a proposed Term 

Sheet using the applicable template 

provided on the CDFI Fund’s website. 

The proposed Term Sheet must clearly 

state all relevant and critical terms of 

the proposed Bond Loan including, but 

not limited to: the Bond Loan Collateral 

Requirements described in Section II(B) 

of this NOGA, any requested 

prepayment provisions, unique 

conditions precedent, proposed 

covenants and exact amounts/ 

percentages for determining the Eligible 

CDFI’s ability to meet program 

requirements, and terms and exact 

language describing any Credit 

Enhancements. Terms may be either 

altered and/or negotiated by the CDFI 

Fund in its sole discretion, based on the 

proposed structure in the application, to 

ensure that adequate protection is in 

place for the Guarantor; 

vi. Secondary Capital Distribution 

Plan(s): Each proposed Eligible CDFI 

must provide a comprehensive plan for 

financing, disbursing, servicing and 

monitoring Secondary Loans, address 

how each proposed Secondary Loan 

will meet Eligible Purposes, and address 

such other requirements listed below 

that may be required by the Guarantor 

and the CDFI Fund. For each proposed 

Eligible CDFI relying, for CDFI 

certification purposes, on the financing 

entity activity of a Controlling CDFI, the 

Controlling CDFI must describe how the 

Eligible CDFI and the Controlling CDFI, 

together, will meet the requirements 

listed below: 

(A) Narrative and Statement of 

Proposed Sources and Uses of Funds: 

Each Eligible CDFI will: (1) provide a 

description of proposed uses of funds, 

including the extent to which Bond 

Loans will serve Low-Income Areas or 

Underserved Rural Areas, and the extent 

to which Bond Loan proceeds will be 

used (i) to make the first monthly 

installment of a Bond Loan payment, (ii) 

pay Issuance Fees up to 1% of the Bond 

Loan, and (iii) finance Loan Loss 

Reserves related to Secondary Loans; (2) 

attest that 100% of Bond Loan proceeds 

designated for Secondary Loans will be 

used to finance or refinance Secondary 

Loans that meet Secondary Loan 

Requirements; (3) describe a plan for 

financing, disbursing, servicing, and 

monitoring Secondary Loans; (4) 

indicate the expected asset classes to 

which it will lend under the Secondary 

Loan Requirements; (5) indicate 

examples of previous lending and years 

of experience lending to a specific asset 

class, especially with regards to the 

number and dollar volume of loans 

made in the five years prior to 

application submission to the specific 

asset classes to which an Eligible CDFI 

is proposing to lend Bond Loan 

proceeds; (6) provide a table detailing 

specific uses and timing of 

disbursements, including terms and 

relending plans if applicable; and (7) a 

community impact analysis, including 

how the proposed Secondary Loans will 

address financing needs that the private 

market is not adequately serving and 

specific community benefit metrics; 

(B) Eligible CDFI cash flow model: 

Each Eligible CDFI must provide a cash 

flow model of the proposed Bond Loan 

which: (1) matches each Eligible CDFI’s 

portion of the Qualified Issuer’s cash 

flow model; and (2) tracks the flow of 

funds through the term of the Bond 

Issue and demonstrates disbursement 

and repayment of the Bond Loan, 

Secondary Loans, and any utilization of 

the Relending Fund, if applicable. Such 

information must describe: the expected 

distribution of asset classes to which 

each Eligible CDFI expects to disburse 

funds, the proposed disbursement 

schedule, quarterly or semi-annual 

amortization schedules, interest-only 

periods, maturity date of each advance 

of funds, and the assumed net interest 

margin on Secondary Loans above the 

assumed Bond Loan rate; 

(C) Organizational capacity: Each 

Eligible CDFI must provide 

documentation indicating the ability of 

the Eligible CDFI to manage its Bond 

Loan including, but not limited to: (1) 

organizational ownership and a chart of 

affiliates; (2) organizational documents, 

including policies and procedures 

related to loan underwriting and asset 

management; (3) management or 

operating agreement, if applicable; (4) 

an analysis by management of its ability 

to manage the funding, monitoring, and 

collection of loans being contemplated 

with the proceeds of the Bond Loan; (5) 

information about its board of directors; 

(6) a governance narrative; (7) 

description of senior management and 

employee base; (8) independent reports, 

if available; (9) strategic plan or related 

progress reports; and (10) a discussion 

of the management and information 

systems used by the Eligible CDFI; 

(D) Policies and procedures: Each 

Eligible CDFI must provide relevant 

policies and procedures including, but 

not limited to: a copy of the assetliability matching policy, if applicable; 

and loan policies and procedures which 

address topics including, but not 

limited to: origination, underwriting, 

credit approval, interest rates, closing, 

documentation, asset management, and 

portfolio monitoring, risk-rating 

definitions, charge-offs, and loan loss 

reserve methodology; 

(E) Financial statements: Each 

Eligible CDFI must provide information 

about the Eligible CDFI’s current and 

future financial position, including but 

not limited to: (1) audited financial 

statements for the prior three (3) most 

recent Fiscal Years; (2) current year-todate or interim financial statement for 

the immediately prior quarter end of the 

Fiscal Year; (3) a copy of the current 

year’s approved budget or projected 

budget if the entity’s Board has not yet 

approved such budget; and (4) a three 

(3) year pro forma projection of the 

statement of financial position or 

balance sheet, statement of activities or 

income statement, and statement of cash 

flows in the standardized template 

provided by the CDFI Fund; 

(F) Loan portfolio information: Each 

Eligible CDFI must provide information 

including, but not limited to: (1) loan 

portfolio quality report; (2) pipeline 

report; (3) portfolio listing; (4) a 

description of other loan assets under 

management; (5) loan products; (6) 

independent loan review report; (7) 

impact report case studies; and (8) a 

loan portfolio by risk rating and loan 

loss reserves; and 

(G) Funding sources and financial 

activity information: Each Eligible CDFI 

must provide information including, but 

not limited to: (1) current grant 

information; (2) funding projections; (3) 

credit enhancements; (4) historical 

investor renewal rates; (5) covenant 

compliance; (6) off-balance sheet 

contingencies; (7) earned revenues; and 

(8) debt capital statistics. 

vii. Assurances and certifications that 

not less than 100% of the principal 

amount of Bonds will be used to make 

Bond Loans for Eligible Purposes 

beginning on the Bond Issue Date, and 

that Secondary Loans shall be made as 

set forth in subsection 1808.307(b); and 

viii. Such other information that the 

Guarantor, the CDFI Fund and/or the 

Bond Purchaser may deem necessary 

and appropriate. 

c. The CDFI Fund will use the 

information described in the Capital 

Distribution Plan and Secondary Capital 

Distribution Plan(s) to evaluate the 

feasibility of the proposed Bond Issue, 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14139 

with specific attention paid to each 

Eligible CDFI’s financial strength and 

organizational capacity. For each 

proposed Eligible CDFI relying, for CDFI 

certification purposes, on the financing 

entity activity of a Controlling CDFI, the 

CDFI Fund will pay specific attention to 

the Controlling CDFI’s financial strength 

and organizational capacity as well as 

the operating agreement between the 

proposed Eligible CDFI and the 

Controlling CDFI. All materials 

provided in the Guarantee Application 

will be used to evaluate the proposed 

Bond Issue. In total, there are more than 

100 individual criteria or sub-criteria 

used to evaluate each Eligible CDFI. 

Specific criteria used to evaluate each 

Eligible CDFI shall include, but not be 

limited to, the following criteria below. 

For each proposed Eligible CDFI relying, 

for CDFI certification purposes, on the 

financing entity activity of a Controlling 

CDFI, the following specific criteria will 

also be used to evaluate both the 

proposed Eligible CDFI and the 

Controlling CDFI: 

i. Historical financial ratios: Ratios 

which together have been shown to be 

predictive of possible future default will 

be used as an initial screening tool, 

including total asset size, net asset or 

Tier 1 Core Capital ratio, self-sufficiency 

ratio, non-performing asset ratio, 

liquidity ratio, reserve over 

nonperforming assets, and yield cost 

spread; 

ii. Quantitative and qualitative 

attributes under the ‘‘CAMELS’’ 

framework: After initial screening, the 

CDFI Fund will utilize a more detailed 

analysis under the ‘‘CAMELS’’ 

framework, including but not limited to 

the following. If a Guarantee 

Application receives a summary rating 

of materially deficient during the 

CAMELS review the application will be 

recommended for denial. 

(A) Capital Adequacy: Attributes such 

as the debt-to-equity ratio, status, and 

significance of off-balance sheet 

liabilities or contingencies, magnitude, 

and consistency of cash flow 

performance, exposure to affiliates for 

financial and operating support, trends 

in changes to capitalization, and other 

relevant attributes; 

(B) Asset Quality: Attributes such as 

the charge-off ratio, adequacy of loan 

loss reserves, sector concentration, 

borrower concentration, asset 

composition, security and 

collateralization of the loan portfolio, 

trends in changes to asset quality, and 

other relevant attributes; 

(C) Management: Attributes such as 

documented best practices in 

governance, strategic planning and 

board involvement, robust policies and 

procedures, tenured and experienced 

management team, organizational 

stability, infrastructure and information 

technology systems, and other relevant 

attributes; 

(D) Earnings and Performance: 

Attributes such as net operating 

margins, deployment of funds, selfsufficiency, trends in earnings, and 

other relevant attributes; 

(E) Liquidity: Attributes such as 

unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, 

ability to access credit facilities, access 

to grant funding, covenant compliance, 

affiliate relationships, concentration of 

funding sources (which may include 

BGP debt, other federal debt, and 

private debt), trends in liquidity, and 

other relevant attributes; 

(F) Sensitivity: The CDFI Fund will 

stress test each Eligible CDFI’s projected 

financial performance under scenarios 

that are specific to the unique 

circumstance and attributes of the 

organization. Additionally, the CDFI 

Fund will consider other relevant 

criteria that have not been adequately 

captured in the preceding steps as part 

of the due diligence process. Such 

criteria may include, but not be limited 

to, the size and quality of any thirdparty Credit Enhancements or other 

forms of credit support. 

iii. Other criteria: (A) 

Overcollateralization: The commitment 

by an Eligible CDFI to over-collateralize 

a proposed Bond Loan with excess 

Secondary Loans is a criterion that may 

affect the viability of a Guarantee 

Application by decreasing the estimated 

net present value of the long-term cost 

of the Guarantee to the Federal 

Government, by decreasing the 

probability of default, and/or increasing 

the recovery rate in the event of default. 

An Eligible CDFI committing to 

overcollateralization may not be 

required to deposit funds in the 

Relending Account, subject to the 

maintenance of certain unique 

requirements that are detailed in the 

template Agreement to Guarantee and 

Bond Loan Agreement. 

(B) Credit Enhancements: The 

provision of third-party Credit 

Enhancements, including any Credit 

Enhancement from a Controlling CDFI 

or any other affiliated entity, is a 

criterion that may affect the viability of 

a Guarantee Application by decreasing 

the estimated net present value of the 

long-term cost of the Guarantee to the 

Federal Government. Credit 

Enhancements are considered in the 

context of the structure and 

circumstances of each Guarantee 

Application. 

(C) On-Site Review: The CDFI Fund 

may request an on-site review of an 

Eligible CDFI to confirm materials 

provided in the written application, as 

well as to gather additional due 

diligence information. The on-site 

reviews are a critical component of the 

application review process and will 

generally be conducted for all 

applicants not regulated by an 

Appropriate Federal Banking Agency or 

Appropriate State Agency. The CDFI 

Fund reserves the right to conduct a site 

visit of regulated entities, in its sole 

discretion. 

(D) Secondary Loan Asset Classes: 

Eligible CDFIs that propose to use funds 

for new products or lines of business 

must demonstrate that they have the 

organizational capacity to manage such 

activities in a prudent manner. Failure 

to demonstrate such organizational 

capacity may be factored into the 

consideration of Asset Quality or 

Management criteria as listed above in 

this section. 

(E) Concentration: The CDFI Fund 

may, through the underwriting process, 

determine that an Eligible CDFI’s 

participation in the Bond Guarantee 

Program creates an undue risk based on 

the concentration of assets, debt, or 

other factors with respect to the 

applicant’s balance sheet or the 

distribution of commitments in the 

CDFI Fund’s overall BGP portfolio. 

3. Credit subsidy cost. The credit 

subsidy cost is the net present value of 

the estimated long- term cost of the 

Guarantee to the Federal Government as 

determined under the applicable 

provisions of the Federal Credit Reform 

Act of 1990, as amended (FCRA). 

Treasury has not received appropriated 

amounts from Congress to cover the 

credit subsidy costs associated with 

Guarantees issued pursuant to this 

NOGA. In accordance with FCRA, 

Treasury must consult with, and obtain 

the approval of, OMB for Treasury’s 

calculation of the credit subsidy cost of 

each Guarantee prior to entering into 

any Agreement to Guarantee. 

E. Guarantee Approval; Execution of 

documents: 

1. The Guarantor, in the Guarantor’s 

sole discretion, may approve a 

Guarantee, after consideration of the 

recommendation from the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program’s Credit Review 

Board and/or based on the merits of the 

Guarantee Application. 

2. The Guarantor reserves the right to 

approve Guarantees, in whole or in part, 

in response to any, all, or none of the 

Guarantee Applications submitted in 

response to this NOGA. The Guarantor 

also reserves the right to approve any 

Guarantees in an amount that is less 

than requested in the corresponding 

Guarantee Application. Pursuant to the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14140 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

Regulations at 12 CFR 1808.504(c), the 

Guarantor may limit the number of 

Guarantees made per year to ensure that 

a sufficient examination of Guarantee 

Applications is conducted. 

3. The CDFI Fund will notify the 

Qualified Issuer in writing of the 

Guarantor’s approval or disapproval of a 

Guarantee Application. Bond 

Documents and Bond Loan documents 

must be executed, and Guarantees will 

be provided, in the order in which 

Guarantee Applications are approved or 

by such other criteria that the CDFI 

Fund may establish, in its sole 

discretion, and in any event by 

September 30, 2024. 

4. Please note that the most recently 

dated templates of Bond Documents and 

Bond Loan documents that are posted 

on the CDFI Fund’s website will not be 

substantially revised or negotiated prior 

to closing of the Bond and Bond Loan 

and issuance of the corresponding 

Guarantee. If a Qualified Issuer or a 

proposed Eligible CDFI does not 

understand the terms and conditions of 

the Bond Documents or Bond Loan 

documents (including those listed in 

Section II.H., above), it should ask 

questions or seek technical assistance 

from the CDFI Fund. However, if a 

Qualified Issuer or a proposed Eligible 

CDFI disagrees or is uncomfortable with 

any term/condition, or if legal counsel 

cannot provide a legal opinion in 

substantially the same form and content 

of the required legal opinion, it should 

not apply for a Guarantee. 

5. The Guarantee shall not be effective 

until the Guarantor signs and delivers 

the Guarantee. 

F. Guarantee Denial: The Guarantor, 

in the Guarantor’s sole discretion, may 

deny a Guarantee, after consideration of 

the recommendation from the Credit 

Review Board and/or based on the 

merits of the Guarantee Application. If 

any Guarantee Application receives a 

summary rating of materially deficient 

during the CAMELS underwriting 

review, the application will not be 

recommended for approval. In addition, 

the Guarantor reserves the right to deny 

a Guarantee Application if information 

(including any administrative error) 

comes to the Guarantor’s attention that 

adversely affects the Qualified Issuer’s 

eligibility, adversely affects the 

evaluation or scoring of an Application, 

or indicates fraud or mismanagement on 

the part of the Qualified Issuer, Program 

Administrator, Servicer, and/or Eligible 

CDFIs. 

Further, if the Guarantor determines 

that any portion of the Guarantee 

Application is incorrect in any material 

respect, the Guarantor reserves the right, 

in the Guarantor’s sole discretion, to 

deny the Application. 

V. Guarantee Administration 

A. Pricing information: Bond Loans 

will be priced based upon the 

underlying Bond issued by the 

Qualified Issuer and purchased by the 

Federal Financing Bank (FFB or Bond 

Purchaser). As informed by CDFI Fund 

underwriting according to the criteria 

laid out in Section II ‘‘General 

Application Information’’ and Section 

IV ‘‘Guarantee Applications’’ of this 

NOGA, the FFB will set the liquidity 

premium at the time of the Bond Issue 

Date, based on the duration and 

maturity of the Bonds according to the 

FFB’s lending policies 

(www.treasury.gov/ffb). Liquidity 

premiums will be charged in increments 

of 1/8th of a percent (i.e., 12.5 basis 

points). 

B. Fees and Other Payments: The 

following table includes some of the 

fees that may be applicable to Qualified 

Issuers and Eligible CDFIs after approval 

of a Guarantee of a Bond Issue, as well 

as Risk-Share Pool funding, prepayment 

penalties or discounts, and Credit 

Enhancements. The table is not 

exhaustive; additional fees payable to 

the CDFI Fund or other parties may 

apply. 

Fee Description 

Agency Administrative Fee ............. Payable monthly to the CDFI Fund by the Eligible CDFI Equal to 10 basis points (annualized) on the 

amount of the unpaid principal of the Bond Issue. 

Bond Issuance Fees ....................... Amounts paid by an Eligible CDFI for reasonable and appropriate expenses, administrative costs, and fees 

for services in connection with the issuance of the Bond (but not including the Agency Administrative 

Fee) and the making of the Bond Loan. Fees negotiated between the Qualified Issuer, the Master 

Servicer/Trustee, and the Eligible CDFI. Up of 1% of Bond Loan Proceeds may be used to finance Bond 

Issuance Fees. 

Servicer Fee .................................... The fees paid by the Eligible CDFI to the Qualified Issuer’s Servicer. Servicer fees are negotiated between 

the Qualified Issuer and the Eligible CDFI. 

Program Administrator Fee ............. The fees paid by the Eligible CDFI to the Qualified Issuer’s Program Administrator. Program Administrator 

fees are negotiated between the Qualified Issuer and the Eligible CDFI. 

Master Servicer/Trustee Fee .......... The fees paid by the Qualified Issuer and the Eligible CDFI to the Master Servicer/Trustee to carry out the 

responsibilities of the Bond Trust Indenture. In general, the Master Servicer/Trustee fee for a Bond Issue 

with a single Eligible CDFI is the greater of 16 basis points per annum or $6,000 per month once the 

Bond Loans are fully disbursed. Fees for Bond Issues with more than one Eligible CDFI are negotiated 

between the Master Servicer/Trustee, Qualified Issuer, and Eligible CDFI. Any special servicing costs 

and resolution or liquidation fees due to a Bond Loan default are the responsibility of the Eligible CDFI. 

Please see the template legal documents at https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/Programs/cdfibond/Pages/closing-disbursement-step.aspx#step4 for more specific information. 

Risk-Share Pool Funding ................ The funds paid by the Eligible CDFIs to cover Risk-Share Pool requirements; capitalized by pro rata payments equal to 3% of the amount disbursed on the Bond Loan from all Eligible CDFIs within the Bond 

Issue. 

Prepayment Premiums or Discounts.Prepayment premiums or discounts are determined by the FFB at the time of prepayment. 

Credit Enhancements ..................... Pledges made to enhance the quality of a Bond and/or Bond Loan. Credit Enhancements include, but are 

not limited to, the Principal Loss Collateral Provision and letters of credit. Credit Enhancements must be 

pledged, as part of the Trust Estate, to the Master Servicer/Trustee for the benefit of the Federal Financing Bank. 

C. Terms for Bond Issuance and 

disbursement of Bond Proceeds: In 

accordance with 12 CFR 1808.302(f), 

each year, beginning on the one year 

anniversary of the Bond Issue Date (and 

every year thereafter for the term of the 

Bond Issue), each Qualified Issuer must 

demonstrate that no less than 100% of 

the principal amount of the Guaranteed 

Bonds currently disbursed and 

outstanding has been used to make 

loans to Eligible CDFIs for Eligible 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14141 

Purposes. If a Qualified Issuer fails to 

demonstrate this requirement within the 

90 days after the anniversary of the 

Bond Issue Date, the Qualified Issuer 

must repay on that portion of Bonds 

necessary to bring the Bonds that 

remain outstanding after such 

repayment is in compliance with the 

100% requirement above. 

D. Secondary Loan Requirements: In 

accordance with the Regulations, 

Eligible CDFIs must finance or refinance 

Secondary Loans for Eligible Purposes 

(not including loan loss reserves) that 

comply with Secondary Loan 

Requirements. The Secondary Loan 

Requirements are found on the CDFI 

Fund’s website at https://

www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/ 

Programs/cdfi-bond/Pages/compliancestep.aspx#step5. Applicants should 

become familiar with the published 

Secondary Loan Requirements (both the 

General Requirements and the 

Underwriting Review Checklist). 

Secondary Loan Requirements are 

subject to a Secondary Loan 

commitment process managed by the 

Qualified Issuer. Eligible CDFIs must 

execute Secondary Loan documents (in 

the form of promissory notes) with 

Secondary Borrowers as follows: (i) no 

later than 12 months after the Bond 

Issue Date, Secondary Loan documents 

representing at least 50% of the Bond 

Loan proceeds allocated for Secondary 

Loans, and (ii) no later than 24 months 

after the Bond Issue Date, Secondary 

Loan documents representing 100% of 

the Bond Loan proceeds allocated for 

Secondary Loans. In the event that the 

Eligible CDFI does not comply with the 

foregoing requirements of clauses (i) or 

(ii) of this paragraph, the available Bond 

Loan proceeds at the end of the 

applicable period shall be reduced by an 

amount equal to the difference between 

the amount required by clauses (i) or (ii) 

for the applicable period minus the 

amount previously committed to the 

Secondary Loans in the applicable 

period. Secondary Loans shall carry 

loan maturities suitable to the loan 

purpose and be consistent with loan-tovalue requirements set forth in the 

Secondary Loan Requirements. 

Secondary Loan maturities shall not 

exceed the corresponding Bond or Bond 

Loan maturity date. It is the expectation 

of the CDFI Fund that interest rates for 

the Secondary Loans will be reasonable 

based on the borrower and loan 

characteristics. 

E. Secondary Loan Collateral 

Requirements: 

1. The Regulations state that 

Secondary Loans must be secured by a 

first lien of the Eligible CDFI on pledged 

collateral, in accordance with the 

Regulations (at 12 CFR 1808.307(f)) and 

within certain parameters. Examples of 

acceptable forms of collateral may 

include, but are not limited to: real 

property (including land and 

structures), leasehold interests, 

machinery, equipment and movables, 

cash and cash equivalents, accounts 

receivable, letters of credit, inventory, 

fixtures, contracted revenue streams 

from non-Federal counterparties, 

provided the Secondary Borrower 

pledges all assets, rights and interests 

necessary to generate such revenue 

stream, and a Principal Loss Collateral 

Provision. Intangible assets, such as 

customer relationships and intellectual 

property rights, are not acceptable forms 

of collateral. Loans secured by real 

property that are still in a construction 

phase will only be permitted when 

backed by a letter of credit issued by a 

bank deemed acceptable by the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program, in a format 

deemed acceptable to the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program, that guarantees the 

full value of the pledged collateral until 

at minimum completion of the 

construction and stabilization phases. 

2. The Regulations require that Bond 

Loans must be secured by a first lien on 

a collateral assignment of Secondary 

Loans, and further that the Secondary 

Loans must be secured by a first lien or 

parity lien on acceptable collateral. 

3. Valuation of the collateral pledged 

by the Secondary Borrower must be 

based on the Eligible CDFI’s credit 

policy guidelines and must conform to 

the standards set forth in the Uniform 

Standards of Professional Appraisal 

Practice (USPAP) and the Secondary 

Loan Requirements. 

4. Independent third-party appraisals 

are required for the following collateral: 

real estate, leasehold interests, fixtures, 

machinery and equipment, movables 

stock valued in excess of $250,000, and 

contracted revenue stream from nonFederal creditworthy counterparties. 

Secondary Loan collateral shall be 

valued using the cost approach, net of 

depreciation and shall be required for 

the following: accounts receivable, 

machinery, equipment and movables, 

and fixtures. 

F. Qualified Issuer approval of Bond 

Loans to Eligible CDFIs: The Qualified 

Issuer shall not approve any Bond Loans 

to an Eligible CDFI where the Qualified 

Issuer has actual knowledge, based 

upon reasonable inquiry, that within the 

past five (5) years the Eligible CDFI: (i) 

has been delinquent on any payment 

obligation (except upon a demonstration 

by the Qualified Issuer satisfactory to 

the CDFI Fund that the delinquency 

does not affect the Eligible CDFI’s 

creditworthiness), or has defaulted and 

failed to cure any other obligation, on a 

loan or loan agreement previously made 

under the Act; (ii) has been found by the 

Qualified Issuer to be in default of any 

repayment obligation under any Federal 

program; (iii) is financially insolvent in 

either the legal or equitable sense; or (iv) 

is not able to demonstrate that it has the 

capacity to comply fully with the 

payment schedule established by the 

Qualified Issuer. 

G. Credit Enhancements; Principal 

Loss Collateral Provision: 

1. In order to achieve the statutory 

zero-credit subsidy constraint of the 

CDFI Bond Guarantee Program and to 

avoid a call on the Guarantee, Eligible 

CDFIs are encouraged to include Credit 

Enhancements and Principal Loss 

Collateral Provisions structured to 

protect the financial interests of the 

Federal Government. Any Credit 

Enhancement or Principal Loss 

Collateral Provision must be pledged, as 

part of the Trust Estate, to the Master 

Servicer/Trustee for the benefit of the 

Federal Financing Bank. 

2. Credit Enhancements may include, 

but are not limited to, payment 

guarantees from third parties or 

Affiliate(s), non-Federal capital, lines or 

letters of credit, or other pledges of 

financial resources that enhance the 

Eligible CDFI’s ability to make timely 

interest and principal payments under 

the Bond Loan. 

3. As distinct from Credit 

Enhancements, Principal Loss Collateral 

Provisions may be provided in lieu of 

pledged collateral and/or in addition to 

pledged collateral. A Principal Loss 

Collateral Provision shall be in the form 

of cash or cash equivalent guarantees 

from non-Federal capital in amounts 

necessary to secure the Eligible CDFI’s 

obligations under the Bond Loan after 

exercising other remedies for default. 

For example, a Principal Loss Collateral 

Provision may include a deficiency 

guarantee whereby another entity 

assumes liability after other default 

remedies have been exercised, and 

covers the deficiency incurred by the 

creditor. The Principal Loss Collateral 

Provision shall, at a minimum, provide 

for the provision of cash or cash 

equivalents in an amount that is not less 

than the difference between the value of 

the collateral and the amount of the 

accelerated Bond Loan outstanding. 

4. In all cases, acceptable Credit 

Enhancements or Principal Loss 

Collateral Provisions shall be proffered 

by creditworthy providers and shall 

provide information about the adequacy 

of the facility in protecting the financial 

interests of the Federal Government, 

either directly or indirectly through 

supporting the financial strength of the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
14142 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 

Bond Issue. The information provided 

must include the amount and quality of 

any Credit Enhancements, the financial 

strength of the provider of the Credit 

Enhancement, the terms, specific 

conditions such as renewal options, and 

any limiting conditions or revocability 

by the provider of the Credit 

Enhancement. 

5. For Secondary Loans benefitting 

from a Principal Loss Collateral 

Provision (e.g., a deficiency guarantee), 

the entity providing the Principal Loss 

Collateral Provision must be 

underwritten based on the same criteria 

as if the Secondary Loan were being 

made directly to that entity with the 

exception that the guarantee need not be 

collateralized. 

6. If the Principal Loss Collateral 

Provision is provided by a financial 

institution that is regulated by an 

Appropriate Federal Banking Agency or 

an Appropriate State Agency, the 

guaranteeing institution must 

demonstrate performance of financially 

sound business practices relative to the 

industry norm for providers of collateral 

enhancements as evidenced by reports 

of Appropriate Federal Banking 

Agencies, Appropriate State Agencies, 

and auditors, as appropriate. 

7. In the event that the Eligible CDFI 

proposes to use other Federal funds to 

service Bond Loan debt or as a Credit 

Enhancement, the CDFI Fund may 

require, in its sole discretion, that the 

Eligible CDFI provide written assurance 

from such other Federal program, in a 

form that is acceptable to the CDFI Fund 

and that the CDFI Fund may rely upon, 

that said use is permissible. 

H. Reporting Requirements: 

1. Reports. 

a. General. As required pursuant to 

the Regulations at 12 CFR 1808.619, and 

as set forth in the Bond Documents and 

the Bond Loan documents, the CDFI 

Fund will collect information from each 

Qualified Issuer which may include, but 

will not be limited to: (i) quarterly and 

annual financial reports and data 

(including an OMB single audit per 2 

CFR 200 Subpart F, as applicable) for 

the purpose of monitoring the financial 

health, ratios and covenants of Eligible 

CDFIs that include asset quality 

(nonperforming assets, loan loss 

reserves, and net charge-off ratios), 

liquidity (current ratio, working capital, 

and operating liquidity ratio), solvency 

(capital ratio, self-sufficiency, fixed 

charge, leverage, and debt service 

coverage ratios); (ii) annual reports as to 

the compliance of the Qualified Issuer 

and Eligible CDFIs with the Regulations 

and specific requirements of the Bond 

Documents and Bond Loan documents; 

(iii) Master Servicer/Trustee summary of 

program accounts and transactions for 

each Bond Issue; (iv) Secondary Loan 

Certifications describing Eligible CDFI 

lending, collateral valuation, and 

eligibility; (v) financial data on 

Secondary Loans to monitor underlying 

collateral, gauge overall risk exposure 

across asset classes, and assess loan 

performance, quality, and payment 

history; (vi) annual certifications of 

compliance with program requirements; 

(vii) material event disclosures 

including any reports of Eligible CDFI 

management and/or organizational 

changes; (viii) annual updates to the 

Capital Distribution Plan (as described 

below); (ix) supplements and/or 

clarifications to correct reporting errors 

(as applicable); (x) project level reports 

to understand overall program impact 

and the manner in which Bond 

Proceeds are deployed for Eligible 

Community or Economic Development 

Purposes; and (xi) such other 

information that the CDFI Fund and/or 

the Bond Purchaser may require, 

including but not limited to 

demographic information of the 

beneficiaries of the CDFI Bond 

Guarantee Program, to the extent 

permissible by law. 

b. Additional reporting by Qualified 

Issuers. A Qualified Issuer receiving a 

Guarantee shall submit annual updates 

to the approved Capital Distribution 

Plan, including an updated Proposed 

Sources and Uses of Funds for each 

Eligible CDFI, noting any deviation from 

the original baseline with regards to 

both timing and allocation of funding 

among Secondary Loan asset classes. 

The Qualified Issuer shall also submit a 

narrative, no more than five (5) pages in 

length for each Eligible CDFI, describing 

the Eligible CDFI’s capacity to manage 

its Bond Loan. The narrative shall 

address any Notification of Material 

Events and relevant information 

concerning the Eligible CDFI’s 

management information systems, 

personnel, executive leadership or 

board members, as well as financial 

capacity. The narrative shall also 

describe how such changes affect the 

Eligible CDFI’s ability to generate 

impacts in Low-Income or Underserved 

Rural Areas. 

c. Change of Secondary Loan asset 

classes. Any Eligible CDFI seeking to 

expand the allowable Secondary Loan 

asset classes beyond what was approved 

by the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program’s 

Credit Review Board or make other 

deviations that could potentially result 

in a modification, as that term is defined 

in OMB Circulars A–11 and A–129, 

must receive approval from the CDFI 

Fund before the Eligible CDFI can begin 

to enact the proposed changes. The 

CDFI Fund will consider whether the 

Eligible CDFI possesses or has acquired 

the appropriate systems, personnel, 

leadership, and financial capacity to 

implement the revised Capital 

Distribution Plan. The CDFI Fund will 

also consider whether these changes 

assist the Eligible CDFI in generating 

impacts in Low-Income or Underserved 

Rural Areas. Such changes will be 

reviewed by the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program and presented to the Credit 

Review Board for approval, and, if 

required, appropriate consultation will 

be made with OMB to ensure 

compliance with OMB Circulars A–11 

and A–129, prior to notifying the 

Eligible CDFI if such changes are 

acceptable under the terms of the Bond 

Loan Agreement. 

d. Reporting by Affiliates and 

Controlling CDFIs. In the case of an 

Eligible CDFI relying, for CDFI 

certification purposes, on the financing 

entity activity of a Controlling CDFI, the 

CDFI Fund will require that the Affiliate 

and Controlling CDFI provide certain 

joint reports, including but not limited 

to those listed in subparagraph 1(a) 

above. 

e. Detailed information on specific 

reporting requirements and the format, 

frequency, and methods by which this 

information will be transmitted to the 

CDFI Fund will be provided to 

Qualified Issuers, Program 

Administrators, Servicers, and Eligible 

CDFIs through the Bond Loan 

Agreement, correspondence, and 

webinar trainings, and/or scheduled 

outreach sessions. 

f. Reporting requirements will be 

enforced through the Agreement to 

Guarantee and the Bond Loan 

Agreement, and will contain a valid 

OMB control number pursuant to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, as applicable. 

g. Each Qualified Issuer will be 

responsible for the timely and complete 

submission of the annual reporting 

documents, including such information 

that must be provided by other entities 

such as Eligible CDFIs, Secondary 

Borrowers or Credit Enhancement 

providers. If such other entities are 

required to provide annual report 

information or documentation, or other 

documentation that the CDFI Fund may 

require, the Qualified Issuer will be 

responsible for ensuring that the 

information is submitted timely and 

complete. Notwithstanding the 

foregoing, the CDFI Fund reserves the 

right to contact such entities and require 

that additional information and 

documentation be provided directly to 

the CDFI Fund. 

h. Annual Assessments. Each 

Qualified Issuer and Eligible CDFI will 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 38 / Monday, February 26, 2024 / Notices 14143 

be required to have an independent 

third-party conduct an Annual 

Assessment of its Bond Loan portfolio. 

The Annual Assessment is intended to 

support the CDFI Fund’s annual 

monitoring of the Bond Loan portfolio 

and to collect financial health, internal 

control, investment impact 

measurement methodology information 

related to the Eligible CDFIs. This 

assessment is consistent with the 

program’s requirements for Compliance 

Management and Monitoring (CMM) 

and Portfolio Management and Loan 

Monitoring (PMLM), and will be 

required pursuant to the Bond 

Documents and the Bond Loan 

documents. The assessment will also 

add to the Department of the Treasury’s 

review and impact analysis on the use 

of Bond Loan proceeds in underserved 

communities and support the CDFI 

Fund in proactively managing portfolio 

risks and performance. The Annual 

Assessment criteria for Qualified Issuers 

and Eligible CDFIs is available on the 

CDFI Fund’s website. 

i. The CDFI Fund reserves the right, 

in its sole discretion, to modify its 

reporting requirements if it determines 

it to be appropriate and necessary; 

however, such reporting requirements 

will be modified only after notice to 

Qualified Issuers. Additional 

information about reporting 

requirements pursuant to this NOGA, 

the Bond Documents and the Bond Loan 

documents will be subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, as applicable. 

2. Accounting. 

a. In general, the CDFI Fund will 

require each Qualified Issuer and 

Eligible CDFI to account for and track 

the use of Bond Proceeds and Bond 

Loan proceeds. This means that for 

every dollar of Bond Proceeds received 

from the Bond Purchaser, the Qualified 

Issuer is required to inform the CDFI 

Fund of its uses, including Bond Loan 

proceeds. This will require Qualified 

Issuers and Eligible CDFIs to establish 

separate administrative and accounting 

controls, subject to the applicable OMB 

Circulars. 

b. The CDFI Fund will provide 

guidance to Qualified Issuers outlining 

the format and content of the 

information that is to be provided on an 

annual basis, outlining and describing 

how the Bond Proceeds and Bond Loan 

proceeds were used. 

VI. Agency Contacts 

A. General Information on Questions 

and CDFI Fund Support: The CDFI 

Fund will respond to questions and 

provide support concerning this NOGA, 

the Qualified Issuer Application and the 

Guarantee Application between the 

hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, 

starting with the date of the publication 

of this NOGA. The final date to submit 

questions is April 9, 2024. Applications 

and other information regarding the 

CDFI Fund and its programs may be 

obtained from the CDFI Fund’s website 

at http://www.cdfifund.gov. The CDFI 

Fund will post on its website responses 

to questions of general applicability 

regarding the CDFI Bond Guarantee 

Program. 

B. The CDFI Fund’s contact 

information is as follows: 

TABLE 2—CONTACT INFORMATION

Type of question Telephone number (not toll free) Email addresses 

CDFI Bond Guarantee Program ............................................................. (202) 653–0421 Option 5 .............. bgp@cdfi.treas.gov. 

CDFI Certification .................................................................................... (202) 653–0423 ............................. ccme@cdfi.treas.gov. 

Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation .................................................. (202) 653–0423 ............................. ccme@cdfi.treas.gov. 

Information Technology Support ............................................................. (202) 653–0422 ............................. AMIS@cdfi.treas.gov. 

C. Communication with the CDFI 

Fund: The CDFI Fund will 

communicate with applicants, Qualified 

Issuers, Program Administrators, 

Servicers, Certified CDFIs and Eligible 

CDFIs, using the contact information 

maintained in their respective AMIS 

accounts. Therefore, each such entity 

must maintain accurate contact 

information (including contact person 

and authorized representative, email 

addresses, fax numbers, phone numbers, 

and office addresses) in its respective 

AMIS account. For more information 

about AMIS, please see the AMIS 

Landing Page at https://

amis.cdfifund.gov. 

VII. Information Sessions and Outreach 

The CDFI Fund may conduct 

webcasts, webinars, or information 

sessions for organizations that are 

considering applying to, or are 

interested in learning about, the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program. The CDFI 

Fund intends to provide targeted 

outreach to both Qualified Issuer and 

Eligible CDFI participants to clarify the 

roles and requirements under the CDFI 

Bond Guarantee Program. For further 

information, or to sign up for alerts, 

please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at 

http://www.cdfifund.gov. 

Authority: Pub. L. 111–240; 12 U.S.C. 

4701, et seq.; 12 CFR part 1808; 12 CFR 

part 1805;12 CFR part 1815. 

Marcia Sigal, 

Acting Director, Community Development 

Financial Institutions Fund. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03750 Filed 2–23–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Revision of an Approved 

Information Collection; Submission for 

OMB Review; Fair Housing Home Loan 

Data System Regulation 

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency (OCC), Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice and request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its 

continuing effort to reduce paperwork 

and respondent burden, invites 

comment on a continuing information 

collection, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In 

accordance with the requirements of the 

PRA, the OCC may not conduct or 

sponsor, and the respondent is not 

required to respond to, an information 

collection unless it displays a currently 

valid Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) control number. The OCC is 

soliciting comment concerning a 

revision to its information collection 

titled, ‘‘Fair Housing Home Loan Data 

System Regulation.’’ 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

March 27, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Commenters are encouraged 

to submit comments by email, if 

possible. You may submit comments by 

any of the following methods: 

• Email: prainfo@occ.treas.gov. 

• Mail: Chief Counsel’s Office, 

Attention: Comment Processing, Office 

of the Comptroller of the Currency, 

Attention: 1557–0159, 400 7th Street 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES