community engagement and financial inclusion in low - and moderate - income communities. second, the new cra rule should address the significant changes in the banking sector since the regulations were last substantially revised more than a quarter century ago. this involves evaluation of online and mobile banking, branchless banking, and hybrid models. third, the new cra rule should provide greater clarity, consistency, and transparency so that everyone - the public, community groups, and banks - understands what counts for cra consideration and how a bank's rating is determined. as you saw in the proposal, 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches the agencies are working to develop a metrics - based approach to cra evaluations for retail lending and community development financing to bring greater clarity and consistency to cra examinations, while still ensuring that there is an opportunity to consider qualitative factors to encourage activities that are particularly impactful or responsive. and fourth, the new cra rule should align evaluations and data collection to bank size and type. one of the strengths of the banking sector is its diversity of institutions, so a modern cra must accommodate banks of different sizes and business models and ensure that smaller banks do not have the same requirements as large banks with much greater capacity. i know that many of you are eagerly awaiting the new cra rule. let me assure you that all three agencies are diligently working together to craft a final rule in light of the extensive public comments we received on our proposal. once finalized, it is my hope and belief that this new cra final rule will support more impactful bank lending, investing, and services in today's banking environment for the communities you faithfully serve. i hope you have an excellent conference, and i look forward to interacting with many of you in person so i can learn from you what works to create economic opportunities for families and communities. 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches

to reaffirm their support when we have earned it ; and to offer informed guidance on when to change course. accountability is only one reason the federal reserve relies on public outreach and participation. we also rely on participation for our effectiveness, because the best ideas in finance and economics can, and often do, come from a wide variety of sources. agencies like the federal reserve are a collection of expertise — informed by experience and positioned to turn a broad range of information into policy. but we are not, and cannot be, a monopoly on insight or wisdom. the federal reserve recognizes these limits, and the need to invite new ideas, through a variety of initiatives. we seek out a qualified, diverse workforce, and foster an inclusive workplace. 3 we meet frequently with a range of advisory councils, drawing on expertise in banking, modeling, and consumer and community finance. 4 we have increased transparency around our policy process and issued new reports on financial stability and banking supervision and regulation, with new details about our work. 5 and across the federal reserve system, our staff publishes a wide range of economic and policy research and plays an active role in academic discourse. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches monetary policy itself shows the value of participation and transparency. u. s. monetary policy is the sole responsibility of the federal reserve. yet some of the most important innovations in the field have come from outside the reserve system. since 1935, we have decided monetary policy by committee, a structure that has served us well because it is designed to capture different views of a wide and varied national economy. and over the past several decades, the fomc has greatly increased its own transparency — from postmeeting announcements, to announcing an objective for inflation, to a published survey of economic projections, to postmeeting press conferences ( which will now take place after every fomc meeting ). 6 as many of you know, over the course of 2019, we will be reviewing our monetary policy strategy, tools, and communication practices, and we will hold a research conference on the subject with outside speakers, as well as “ fed listens ” events at a number of reserve banks, to hear from a broad range of constituencies. but these improvements are more than a simple matter of disclosure. they are an invitation to participate, and a way to provide the public with the means and opportunity to inform our work. this year, we are taking similar steps to improve a cornerstone of our post - crisis rules. supervisory stress