Preserving Minority Depository Institutions - July 2016

The Board submits this report pursuant to section 367 of the Dodd-Frank Act. This section requires the Board to submit an annual report to the Congress detailing the actions taken to fulfill requirements outlined in section 308 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) of 1989, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act. In addition to the annual reporting requirement, FIRREA section 308 requires the Federal Reserve System (System) to devote efforts toward preserving minority ownership of minority depository institutions (MDIs). Comments on the System’s efforts to fulfill the requirements of FIRREA section 308 are included in the 2008 through 2012 annual reports of the Board to the Congress. However, beginning with the 2013 report the Federal Reserve issues the annual report in separate form to align Board practice with that of the other agencies with section 367 responsibilities. Throughout 2015, the System supervised 18 MDIs, which collectively represented approximately 2 percent of the 836 community banks in the System’s community banking organizations portfolio. To support these institutions and to accomplish minority depository-related FIRREA goals, the System continues to dedicate resources to engage in outreach and technical assistance activities. Throughout 2015, staff from the Board as well as staff from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks (FRBs) engaged in activities to support MDIs. Highlights of those activities included collaborating with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in holding a biannual interagency conference to help promote and preserve MDIs; providing technical assistance to MDIs on a wide variety of topics, including topics focused on IT and cybersecurity, interest rate risk, regulatory updates, capital planning and capital rules, BSA/AML issues, third-party vendor management, CRA, and regulatory application processes; hosting a webinar training for board of directors of MDIs; and maintaining a public website, which provides a full menu of banking resources--including regulatory guidance--relevant to MDIs.