Bill Text: OR HB2485 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to community reinvestment by credit unions; declaring an emergency.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Failed) 2013-07-08 - In committee upon adjournment. [HB2485 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2013-HB2485-Introduced.html
77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1471
House Bill 2485
Introduced and printed pursuant to House Rule 12.00. Presession
filed (at the request of House Interim Committee on Revenue)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Provides that credit union has continuing and affirmative
obligation to help meet credit needs of community in which credit
union has offices or branches. Requires Director of Department of
Consumer and Business Services to adopt rules to govern nature
and scope of credit union's obligation. Provides that director
must consider federal regulations that implement federal
Community Reinvestment Act in adopting rules. Specifies other
minimal standards that rules must set forth.
Requires director to periodically examine credit union to
evaluate whether credit union is meeting obligations. Provides
that director may consider results of evaluation when determining
whether to approve certain applications from credit union.
Permits director to enter into agreements with regulatory
officials in other jurisdictions to conduct evaluations of credit
union's compliance with obligations.
Becomes operative January 1, 2014.
Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to community reinvestment by credit unions; and
declaring an emergency.
The Legislative Assembly finds that:
(1) Banks that do business in Oregon have a continuing and
affirmative obligation under the federal Community Reinvestment
Act of 1977, 12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq., to help meet the credit
needs of communities in which the banks are chartered;
(2) Credit unions that do business in Oregon are not subject to
the Community Reinvestment Act;
(3) In the 35 years since the Community Reinvestment Act became
law, credit unions have grown from small, single-location
entities in which members must share a common bond of occupation
or association to large, complex, multi-branch operations, the
membership of which is based on residential communities instead
of common bonds of occupation or association;
(4) Credit unions enjoy greatly expanded lending authority and
other authority and are often statewide operations; and
(5) Exempting credit unions from an obligation to help meet the
credit needs of local communities in which the credit unions
conduct their operations is no longer rational, and credit unions
should be subject to obligations that are similar to the
obligations banks have under the Community Reinvestment Act.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this 2013 Act are
added to and made a part of ORS chapter 723. + }
SECTION 2. { + (1) As used in this section and sections 3, 4,
5 and 6 of this 2013 Act, 'credit union' has the meaning given
that term in ORS 723.006.
(2) A credit union has a continuing and affirmative obligation
to help meet the credit needs of the community or contiguous
political subdivision, such as a city, town or county, in which
the credit union has offices or branches. The obligation extends
to helping to meet the credit needs of neighborhoods and
community residents with low or moderate incomes, and a credit
union must meet the obligation in a manner that is consistent
with the safe and sound operation of the credit union. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) The Director of the Department of Consumer
and Business Services shall adopt rules to govern the nature and
scope of a credit union's obligation under section 2 of this 2013
Act. In adopting the rules, the director shall consider the
federal regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act
of 1977, 12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq., and, to the extent possible,
shall require a credit union to satisfy obligations similar to
the obligations set forth in the federal regulations. The rules,
at a minimum, must set standards that a credit union must follow
with respect to:
(a) Satisfying an obligation to originate loans and provide
other assistance to community residents with low or moderate
incomes that will enable the community residents to remain in
affordable housing in the community;
(b) Avoiding systematic patterns or undue concentrations of
loan origination or lending that result in a loss of affordable
housing;
(c) Investing in community development and redevelopment
projects and providing technical assistance to small businesses;
(d) Providing financial services via the Internet or other
electronic means to community residents with low or moderate
incomes; and
(e) Helping to meet the community's credit needs in other ways
and using methods that, in the director's judgment, are
reasonable and appropriate and are consistent with the federal
regulations.
(2) The director by rule shall specify criteria by which the
director shall evaluate the credit union's compliance with the
obligations set forth in subsection (1) of this section and in
section 2 of this 2013 Act. The criteria must include:
(a) A description of the standards of evaluation the director
will use and the facts and evidence the director will consider as
support for the standards of evaluation; and
(b) A rating scale that provides a single, easy to understand
summary of the director's evaluation and that is substantially in
this form: + }
________________________________________________________________
{ + RATING SIGNIFICANCE
A Outstanding record of meeting
the credit union's obligations
to help with community credit
needs
B Highly satisfactory record of
meeting the credit union's
obligations to help with
community credit needs
C Satisfactory record of meeting
the credit union's obligations
to help with community credit
needs
D Must improve the credit union's
record of meeting the credit
union's obligations to help
with community credit needs
F Substantial noncompliance with
the credit union's obligations
to help with community credit
needs + }
________________________________________________________________
SECTION 4. { + (1) The Director of the Department of Consumer
and Business Services shall periodically examine each credit
union to evaluate the extent to which the credit union has
complied with the credit union's obligations under section 2 of
this 2013 Act and under the rules the director adopts under
section 3 of this 2013 Act. After conducting the examination, the
director shall prepare a written assessment of the credit union's
compliance. The written assessment is a public record.
(2) The written assessment described in subsection (1) of this
section must:
(a) Describe the criteria the director used to evaluate the
credit union;
(b) Summarize the director's findings for each of the criteria
the director used;
(c) Set forth the evidence that supports the director's
findings; and
(d) Rate the credit union's performance according to the rating
scale the director adopted under section 3 (2) of this 2013 Act
and provide a brief description of what the rating signifies.
(3) In addition to any other criteria the director applies to
evaluate a credit union's satisfaction of the obligations set
forth under sections 2 and 3 of this 2013 Act, the director may
evaluate the extent to which the credit union provided
state-of-the-art computers and Internet access at minimal cost or
no cost to community residents with low or moderate incomes as
part of the director's evaluation of the credit union's
satisfaction of the credit union's obligation under section 3
(1)(d) of this 2013 Act. + }
SECTION 5. { + (1) The Director of the Department of Consumer
and Business Services shall consider the results of the
director's evaluation under section 4 of this 2013 Act of a
credit union's compliance with the credit union's obligations
under sections 2 and 3 of this 2013 Act when the director
determines whether to approve a credit union's application to:
(a) Establish a branch or other facility at which the credit
union may accept deposits;
(b) Relocate a main office or branch office; or
(c) Merge or consolidate with or acquire the assets or assume
the liabilities of another credit union.
(2) The director may deny an application described in
subsection (1) of this section based on the results of the
director's evaluation under section 4 of this 2013 Act. + }
SECTION 6. { + (1) The Director of the Department of Consumer
and Business Services may enter into a cooperative agreement with
regulatory officers in jurisdictions other than this state to:
(a) Coordinate or participate jointly in an examination of a
credit union or an interstate credit union in order to evaluate
the credit union's or interstate credit union's compliance with
the obligations set forth in sections 2 and 3 of this 2013 Act;
(b) Set a schedule of fees for the examination that the
regulatory official may charge a credit union;
(c) Specify the actions the regulatory official may take in an
examination and the enforcement actions the regulatory official
may pursue against the credit union; and
(d) Accept reports concerning the credit union's compliance
with the obligations set forth in sections 2 and 3 of this 2013
Act from regulatory officials in other jurisdictions.
(2) This section does not affect the director's authority under
this chapter to examine or pursue an enforcement action against a
credit union that has a certificate of approval to transact
business in this state. + }
SECTION 7. { + (1) Sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this 2013 Act
become operative January 1, 2014.
(2) The Director of the Department of Consumer and Business
Services may take any action before the operative date specified
in subsection (1) of this section that is necessary for the
director to exercise, on and after the operative date specified
in subsection (1) of this section, all of the duties, functions
and powers conferred on the director by sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
of this 2013 Act. + }
SECTION 8. { + This 2013 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2013 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
----------
