“ the community reinvestment act ( cra ) and bank branching patterns, ” housing policy debate 30, no. 1 ( november 2019 ) : 27 - 45. - 4agencies. our proposal also reflects extensive outreach through the 29 cra roundtables we held across the country with community and industry leaders and community members. i traveled to colorado to participate in the first roundtable and to hear from women and minority small business owners about the loans that are enabling their businesses to thrive and the bankers who are providing credit and community development activities in their communities. 11 i made similar visits to communities in areas ranging from el paso ’ s colonias to kansas city, from pine ridge to milwaukee, from the mississippi delta to ferguson, missouri, and from hazard, kentucky, to rochester, new york. despite wide variations, in all of these places, i met people working to strengthen their communities. to ensure its continued effectiveness in supporting these efforts, the cra regulation must evolve along with the landscape of banking and community development. to that end, the board ’ s anpr seeks to advance the cra ’ s core purpose of addressing inequities in credit access and ensuring an inclusive financial services industry. in addition, the anpr seeks to provide more certainty and consistency, tailor expectations to local conditions and bank business models, and minimize burden. finally, we intend for the feedback on the anpr to provide a foundation for the banking agencies to converge on a consistent regulatory approach that has broad support among stakeholders. guided by these broad goals, i will discuss the key changes we are proposing. see lael brainard, “ community investment in denver ” ( speech at the federal reserve bank of kansas city denver branch, october 15, 2018 ), https : / / www. federalreserve. gov / newsevents / speech / brainard20181015a. htm. - 5advancing the core purpose of the cra promoting financial inclusion we seek to modernize the cra in a way that significantly expands financial inclusion. by being inclusive in their lending and investing, banks help their local communities to thrive, which in turn benefits their core business. the recognition of this mutually beneficial relationship between banks and their local communities is one of the core strengths of the cra. to strengthen the cra ’ s role in financial inclusion, the anpr proposes to expand and clarify cra - eligible activities that support minority depository institutions ( mdis ), community development

development bank of canada will buy term asset - backed securities backed by loans and leases on vehicles and equipment. all of these measures are helping to meet a rising demand from business and individuals who have been finding it difficult in this environment to raise adequate funds. we have all heard reports about ongoing tightening in both the availability and the pricing of credit. nonetheless, our latest figures show continued strong growth in total household credit – 9. 6 per cent in january compared with the same period one year earlier – and limited deceleration in growth of total business credit. the latter stood at 4. 2 per cent in january compared with the same period one year earlier as accelerating growth in bank lending has helped to offset a contraction in market financing. we will continue to closely monitor credit growth and credit conditions in canada. in conclusion, as we are all very well aware, the canadian economy is feeling the effects of the global turmoil and recession. authorities have put a lot of fiscal and monetary stimulus in place – in canada and globally – to support the recovery. however, as i noted at the outset, stabilization of the global financial system remains a precondition for the global and canadian economic recoveries. investor and public confidence has been badly shaken, but will recover with the timely implementation of ambitious plans in some major countries to address toxic assets and to recapitalize financial institutions. however, if these national and multilateral measures are not timely, bold, and well - executed, canada ’ s economic recovery will be both attenuated and delayed. i would now be pleased to answer your questions.