CDFIs

House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., led a group of Democrats in challenging Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the current state of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

The Treasury Department told the OMB that all 11 programs in the CDFI Fund are statutorily mandated. The White House said "no final decisions have been made" about the programs.

The bipartisan co-chairs of the Community Financial Development Institution caucus sent a letter urging the Trump administration to continue supporting the CDFI Fund after it was slated for cuts in a recent executive order.

President Donald Trump's executive order severely limiting the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund has thrown the industry into confusion as financial companies try to quantify the damage.

The community development financial institution was the nation's top non-qualified mortgage lender last year, according to one ranking.

The Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has introduced significant updates to the CDFI certification application, aiming to simplify the process and establish clearer standards for responsible lending and community development.

The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said new definitions around community development activities and the ability for banks to invest outside their immediate assessment areas could be a boon to Native Americans and their communities.

At a Senate Banking subcommittee meeting, Republican and Democratic lawmakers both promoted the mission of community development financial institutions and warned of upcoming threats to their funding and proposals to revamp the CDFI certification process.

In an exclusive interview, the moderate Virginia Democrat and co-chair of the Community Development Financial Institution Caucus touched on the future of community development, cybersecurity and nonbank regulation. 

The program, announced last October, looks to provide services to minority-owned banks and credit unions so they can increase homeownership rates in their communities.