WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Consumer Federation of America released the following statement in response to the preliminary injunction granted by US District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, blocking enforcement of the recently-issued final rule updating the Community Reinvestment Act (Regulation BB). The rule was scheduled to be implemented on April 1st, 2024.

“To protect their immense profits, banks want to perpetuate an approach to CRA where every institution is ‘above average,’” said Adam Rust, Director of Financial Services for the Consumer Federation of America. “The fact that almost every bank gets an ‘A’ under the current CRA regime is not a signal that the banks are doing a good job but instead reflects that the rating system needs improvement. The Texas judge’s opinion conveniently supports their stall tactics by taking a definition of ‘community’ from Webster’s Dictionary, rather than from a realistic understanding of how the internet has transformed banking. But the impact of this obfuscation is clear: it shields banks from responsibility for serving all of the communities where they do business.”