michael s barr : serving indian country with the modernized community reinvestment act speech ( virtual ) by mr michael s barr, vice chair for supervision of the board of governors of the federal reserve system, at the modernized community reinvestment act and indian country, the federal reserve bank of minneapolis, minneapolis, minnesota, 28 november 2023. * * * good afternoon. i'm grateful for the opportunity to join you today as we discuss the updated community reinvestment act regulations and what they mean for indian country. the community reinvestment act - or cra - requires banking regulators to encourage federally insured banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low - and moderate - income neighborhoods. on october 24, the federal reserve board, the federal deposit insurance corporation ( fdic ), and the office of the comptroller of the currency ( occ ) announced a final rule strengthening and modernizing the regulations implementing the cra. this historic update reflects years of public engagement and several rounds of rulemaking by the board, fdic, and occ. during this process, the center for indian country development was a key partner in encouraging input from native community members and organizations. indian country leaders described critical community needs, such as developing partnerships with financial institutions, increasing mortgage lending, and bolstering partnerships with native community development financial institutions ( cdfis ) to expand small business lending. i want to thank you for sharing your perspectives. they informed the final rule in ways that have the potential to positively impact community development in indian country for generations to come. as the federal reserve's vice chair for supervision, i oversee supervision of banks and bank holding companies. i've researched and written about the cra's role in expanding access to credit and financial inclusion for many years and have had the privilege of working with dedicated colleagues across the federal reserve, fdic, and occ who worked tirelessly on this update. it's profoundly rewarding to have completed this historic milestone, and yet i know our work has just begun. we now need to turn our attention to building awareness of the opportunities introduced by the new regulations, and to supporting their clear and consistent implementation. the potential impact of the new rule was reinforced for me on a recent visit with tribal nations in montana. in august, i had the opportunity to spend time on the flathead and blackfeet reservations, where i met with members of the confederated salish and

. bankofengland. co. uk – and you will find there the minutes of our meetings, as well as the inflation report, available to everyone. you will even find a copy of this speech. you may not always agree with our decisions, but i do hope you will understand the reasons for them. since the mpc was set up, there is, i think, a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve. most of those who disagree with particular interest rate decisions accept that it does make sense to have an inflation target. some might wish that we interpret the inflation target in a way that better serves the interest of their own sector of the economy, but that would be to court popularity in the short term at the expense of achieving low and stable inflation in the long term. we are committed to a dialogue, and that includes a dialogue with the people of scotland. i cannot claim that we shall always do what some of you would like us to. but i can promise that we shall explain and we shall listen. and we shall remember those words of rabbie burns, o wad some pow ’ r the giftie gie us to see oursels as others see us! it wad frae mony a blunder free us, and foolish notion. some of you may still feel that the mpc ’ s decision to raise interest rates was a “ foolish notion ”. but i can assure you that our mission to explain will continue, and that we shall take the case for stability to every part of the country in order “ to see oursels as others see us ”.