What’s next
2023 marked some significant changes to a landmark federal law that was originally enacted in 1977: The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This law requires banks to meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate. Federal banking regulators monitor banks’ compliance to CRA and evaluate their performance. The BlueBay Access Capital Community Investment strategy has long been used by banks seeking to gain targeted CRA Investment Test credit. Historically, the activities in Access Capital qualified only under the Investment Test Credit, which was an optional activity to boost ratings. However, the 2023 final rule now makes the strategy a qualified Community Development Activity, which represents roughly 50% of a bank’s CRA rating. These new regulations expand the focus of many banks’ targeted CRA activities to broader geographic regions than existing regulations which we expect will also expand the demand for new CRA investments. New regulations also give special attention to partnerships with mission related investors such as CDFIs and MDIs. We applaud the intention of the new regulation to give more credit to the important role these lenders play, and we look forward to our continued partnerships with these entities.
It is not just banks, however, who are seeking to increase their support of MDIs and CDFIs. We have seen a marked increase of interest in this space over the past several years and expect it to continue. Impact investors across the spectrum – banks, foundations, corporations and more – are realizing the powerful role these originators play in bridging the gap in financing for underserved communities, and more and more want to support these efforts.
Related resources
Meet the team
Commitments
Our commitments | RBC Global Asset Management - Institutional