New York State Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne A. Harris issued a revised proposed regulations that would allow the State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to collect data on how regulated banks in New York serve minority and women-owned businesses.
The proposal follows an expansion of New York State’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), responds to comments received by DFS during a prior comment period, and is subject to a 45-day comment period. days after it was posted to the state registry, DFS said Wednesday. (October 26) in a Press release.
“Banks must meet the needs of all consumers, including minorities and women business owners, who have historically been denied fair access to credit,” Harris said in the statement. “This revised regulation ensures that DFS has the data necessary to verify that banks provide fair access to financial products, creating a fairer financial system.”
The proposed regulations would require banks to collect and submit data to DFS indicating whether a business applying for a loan or credit is minority or female-owned, along with the date, type of credit, amount, whether the application was approved, the size of the business and the location of the business, according to the statement.
Revisions included in the recently updated proposal establish how banks should solicit, collect, store and report information; that as far as possible, the information is not accessible to subscribers; how long banks must keep the information; and a sample data collection form, the statement said.
Inequality in access to financial services and products is entrenched and has yet to be addressed, Harris told Karen Webster of PYMNTS in an interview published in May.
Read more: New York Financial Services Regulator Says Faster Money Movements Need Further Consideration
Providers need to be aware that underserved populations — just like affluent consumers — want choice in how they conduct their financial lives, Harris said at the time.
https://www.pymnts.com/smbs/2022/fintechs-deliver-enterprise-level-ap-ar-to-smbs-as-economy-softens/partial/
