for release on delivery 12 : 00 p. m. edt september 21, 2020 strengthening the cra to meet the challenges of our time remarks by lael brainard member board of governors of the federal reserve system at the urban institute washington, d. c. ( via webcast ) september 21, 2020 it is a pleasure to be back at the urban institute with sarah rosen wartell to discuss the federal reserve ’ s efforts to strengthen the community reinvestment act ( cra ) regulation. 1 today the federal reserve board unanimously approved an advance notice of proposed rulemaking ( anpr ) that would strengthen, clarify, and tailor the cra regulation to better meet the law ’ s core purpose. 2 the cra ’ s history and purpose in relation to today ’ s challenges the cra was one of several landmark civil rights laws to address systemic inequities in credit access. 3 the cra was intended to reinforce the other statutes in addressing redlining, wherein banks declined to make loans or extend other financial services in neighborhoods of largely black and other minority households, in part based on government maps that literally delimited these neighborhoods in red as high credit risks ( figure 1 ). by enacting the cra, lawmakers aimed to reverse the disinvestment associated with years of government policies and market actions that deprived lower - income and predominantly minority areas of credit and investment. even with these critical laws, the legacy of discriminatory lending and systemic inequity in credit access remains in evidence today. the typically minority neighborhoods demarcated in red in the old color - coded maps tend to be characterized by worse economic performance and i am grateful to taz george of the federal reserve bank of chicago and amanda roberts, joseph firschein, and carrie johnson of the federal reserve board for their assistance in preparing this text. these remarks represent my own views, which do not necessarily represent those of the federal reserve board or the federal open market committee. see federal reserve board, “ advance notice of proposed rulemaking : the community reinvestment act, ” ( september 21, 2020 ), https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / aboutthefed / boardmeetings / files / cra - fr - notice - 20200921. pdf. the equal credit opportunity act and the fair housing act are fair lending laws that are designed to combat discrimination on prohibited bases such as race, and the home mortgage disclosure act is designed to

conference, you will be discussing a few key ongoing regulatory capital initiatives, focusing on the completion of the basel iii reforms. as vice chair for supervision michael barr has noted, finalizing the basel iii reforms is a high priority for the federal reserve. the revised framework should improve the resilience of the banking system by producing more robust and internationally consistent capital requirements for large firms, building on improvements made to the capital framework following the global financial crisis. importantly, the revised framework is expected to reduce unwarranted variability in capital requirements. by increasing standardization, these reforms aim to increase transparency and public confidence in risk - weighted assets while also reducing complexity. as we speak, the staffs of the u. s. federal banking agencies are diligently working on a basel iii endgame proposal that should be issued for public comment soon. at the same time, the federal reserve staff is considering ways to enhance the ability of stress tests to capture a wider range of risks and identify vulnerabilities at the largest banking organizations. conclusion based on this brief overview of the issues, this afternoon promises to be invigorating and informative. i look forward to hearing how the panel discussions go. i hope that you enjoy the conference. thank you. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches