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Regulatory Incentives and Consolidation: The Case of Commercial Bank Mergers and the Community Reinvestment Act

Author

Listed:
  • Bostic Raphael

    (School of Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California, bostic@usc.edu)

  • Paulson Anna L

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, anna.paulson@chi.frb.org)

  • Mehran Hamid

    (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Hamid.Mehran@ny.frb.org)

  • Saidenberg Marc

    (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, marc.saidenberg@ny.frb.org)

Abstract

Bank regulators are required to consider a bank’s record of providing credit to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and individuals in approving bank applications for mergers and acquisitions. We provide evidence that banks self-regulate by strategically increasing their lending to these populations prior to acquiring another institution in anticipation of the regulatory and public scrutiny associated with a merger or acquisition. In particular, we show that the higher the percentage of the institution’s mortgage originations in a given year that are directed to low- and moderate-income individuals or neighborhoods, the greater the probability that the institution will acquire another bank in the following year. Further investigation bolsters the view that this correlation is due to banks’ anticipation of the public and regulatory scrutiny during the merger review process: (1) the effect cannot be explained by regulator behavior or by unobserved bank characteristics; (2) the relationship is observed for acquiring banks, which are the primary focus of scrutiny, but not for the banks that are being acquired; (3) the positive effect increases over the 1991 to 1995 time frame, a period when scrutiny of an institution’s community lending record increased; and (4) the effect is largest for big banks, who face particularly intense scrutiny.

Suggested Citation

  • Bostic Raphael & Paulson Anna L & Mehran Hamid & Saidenberg Marc, 2005. "Regulatory Incentives and Consolidation: The Case of Commercial Bank Mergers and the Community Reinvestment Act," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:advances.5:y:2005:i:1:n:2
    DOI: 10.1515/1538-0637.1392
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    Cited by:

    1. Julia Sass Rubin, 2006. "Financing rural innovation with community development venture capital: models, options and obstacles," Community Development Innovation Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue 3, pages 15-27.
    2. Lee, Hyojung & Bostic, Raphael W., 2020. "Bank adaptation to neighborhood change: Mortgage lending and the Community Reinvestment Act," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. Christian Weller, 2009. "Credit Access, the Costs of Credit and Credit Market Discrimination," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 7-28, March.
    4. Julia Sass Rubin, 2009. "Shifting ground: Can community development loan funds continue to serve the neediest borrowers?," Community Development Working Paper 2009-01, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    5. John Fitzgerald & Samuel P. Vitello, 2014. "Impacts of the Community Reinvestment Act on Neighborhood Change and Gentrification," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 446-466, April.
    6. Neil Bhutta, 2011. "The Community Reinvestment Act and Mortgage Lending to Lower Income Borrowers and Neighborhoods," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 953-983.
    7. Neil Bhutta, 2008. "Giving credit where credit is due? the Community Reinvestment Act and mortgage lending in lower-income neighborhoods," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2008-61, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

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