Federal Reserve Resources

Annual Report to Congress

  • Annual Report on Preserving Minority Depository Institutions (2023) — 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.

Research

  • Just How Risky? Comparative Institutional Risks of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and Community Development Banking Institutions (CDBIs) 
    This paper examines the relative institutional failure risks for three sets of bank depositories: Community Development Banking Institutions (CDBIs), Minority Depositories (MDIs) and what we term Non-Mission Depository Institutions (hereafter, NMDIs). CDBIs have primary missions of community development and serving underserved populations; MDIs are typically led by minorities and serve minority populations (a single institution can be both a Community Development Banking Institution (CDBI) and an MDI, either or neither). In this analysis, NMDIs represent all other depository banks.
  • Is the Community Reinvestment Act Effective for Indian Country?  — The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a U.S. law designed to encourage commercial banks to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods (LMIs). Presidents of various Native American owned banks were interviewed, and one overarching comment surfaced: the law does not recognize the contribution of Native American banks to underserved Native Americans because many of these prospective borrowers live in rural areas outside of what are labelled “assessment areas” under the CRA. In effect, the limitations imposed by the assessment area component of the CRA punishes these banks and discourages them from acting on the underlying intent of the CRA to provide access to credit for their population – Native Americans. Furthermore, this requirement conflicts with the core foundation of and support by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in promoting Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and their vital role in the financial system and to their communities.
  • Minority Depository Institutions: Evolving Financial Technologies and the Challenge of Governance  — Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) came into being to create pathways for economic development in racially segregated neighborhoods. The effectiveness of MDIs in accomplishing this shared mission is acutely sensitive to three factors: the economic circumstances of the racial/ethnic community they serve; the structure of governance – both the public policies that directly govern MDIs, and also the overall pattern of urban governance, including macroeconomic policy stance and targeted public investment/tax programs; and third, the evolution of financial technologies. Together, these factors shape the strategic options that MDIs have for transformative practice in the communities they serve. This study examines how the intersection of historical unfolding of inequality, governance structures, and financial technologies have shaped the “logic of reinvestment” (Chiong, Dymski, and Hernandez 2018) of MDIs through a case study of Los Angeles County.
  • Capital-raising among minority-owned banks before and after the financial crisis —The financial crisis and recession of 2008-2010 made the availability of capital a significant area of concern for community banks, and led many of these institutions to seek out sources to rebuild their equity. The need for capital may have been even greater for some minority-owned financial institutions. Minority-owned depositories are a small subset of financial institutions, most of which are also community banks, reflecting either black, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American ownership, or majority minority board members and a mission to serve minority populations. Regulators have long supported the existence of minority-owned institutions as a way to promote the economic viability of minority and underserved communities.
  • Minority Owned Banks Impact on Community: Three Case Studies – This report pursues detailed questions on how minority owned banks serve their community by giving examples of minority owned projects they have completed that serve their community.
  • Ethnic Banks’ Logic of Reinvestment in Post-Crisis California: A Case Study of Minority Depository Institutions in Los Angeles — Minority residents and businesses have had to contend with segregation and with exclusion from access to finance during the long trajectory of US urban development. Historically, minority depository institutions (MDIs) have been at the forefront of efforts to revitalize disadvantaged communities by providing access to finance for minority-owned businesses and minority households. This study analyzes the dynamic racial/ethnic context for different MDIs confronted by ethnic banks associated with different ethnic communities in contemporary Los Angeles. We contrast the “logic of reinvestment” pursued by an African-American bank in South Los Angeles, pre- and post-crisis, with the circumstances of Asian-American banks serving a dynamic customer base with substantially higher levels of economic resources.
  • Minority Depository Institutions at the Dawn of the 21st Century — This paper examines how Minority Depository Institutions are rooted and localized in different ways with different groups, and are shaped by different regulatory and institutional contexts.
  • A Capital Infusion Program for Community Development: The Case of the Community Development Capital Initiative — This study investigates the Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI) program, the characteristics of the participants, and their subsequent small business lending behavior. Results show that participating banks are larger, older, and hold relatively less loan loss reserves when compared to a control sample of nonparticipating banks.
  • Minority-Owned Banks and Their Primary Local Market Areas  — This paper analyzes the experience and performance of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) in their primary local service areas in recent periods, including before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis. A review of the sector, highlighting of key policies and initiatives pertaining to and affecting these institutions, and a brief review of previous research are discussed.
  • The Changing Face of Communities Served by Minority Depository Institutions: 2001-2015 — This research analyzes factors related to the increase of the numbers of Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) from 2000 to 2015. There were 164 and 174 MDIs in 2000 and 2015, respectively, according to a study by the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation. After separating these banks into Black-owned, Hispanic-owned, Asian American-owned and Native American-owned, this research found that the 10 bank increase was not equally distributed across the MDI categories.

Articles and Related Publications

Executive Online Training Resources

  • Ask the Fed: Ask the Fed® is a free program covering the latest financial and regulatory developments for senior banking officials and boards of directors. Ask the Fed® consists of monthly conference calls that feature Fed experts and guest speakers on top banking issues of the day, with time at the end for questions and comments. Bankers must register for the sessions through the Ask the Fed website, which will have information on upcoming calls and access to archives of past sessions (including audio replay). Ask the Fed Fact sheet PDF
  • Emerging Markets (U.S. Exporting): Podcast for MDIs by Federal Reserve Partnership program and the SBA Office of International Trade, June 7, 2013.
  • Basics for Bank Directors: Online training for bank directors developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This training introduces bank directors to corporate governance and director duties and responsibilities; covers basic bank financial analysis; and discusses the sources, control, and monitoring of portfolio risks, including credit, liquidity, and market risks.

Federal Reserve System

Speeches and Testimony by Federal Reserve System Officials