The New York State Department of Financial Services has announced a revised proposed regulation that would allow the agency to collect data to evaluate how well New York-regulated financial institutions are serving minority- and women-owned businesses in their communities, pursuant to expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act, or CRA.

The revised proposed regulation is subject to a 45-day comment period following publication in the State Register, and addresses comments received by DFS during a prior 60-day comment period. The revisions aim to minimize compliance burdens by ensuring the proposed language complements requirements in the CFPB’s proposed regulations for data collection on credit access for small and minority- and women-owned businesses, according to DFS. 

Specifically, revisions to the proposed amendment include:

• establishing how covered banking institutions should solicit, collect, store and report the information relating to their provision of credit to minority- and women-owned businesses;

• that to the extent feasible, underwriters should not have access to the information provided by applicants; 

• the length of time the information gathered must be preserved by the covered institution; and

• a sample data collection form that covered institutions are permitted (but not required) to use.

“Banks must meet the needs of all consumers, including minority and women business owners, who historically have been denied fair access to credit,” said Adrienne Harris, DFS superintendent. “This revised regulation ensures DFS has the necessary data to verify that banks are providing equitable access to financial products, creating a fairer financial system.”