On December 21st the federal bank regulatory agencies announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The annual adjustments are required by the CRA rules.
The annual adjustments are based on the change in the average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million.
As a result of the 2.21 percent increase in the CPI index for the period ending in November 2010, the definitions of small and intermediate small institutions for CRA examinations will change as follows:
• “Small bank” or “small savings association” means an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.122 billion.
• “Intermediate small bank” or “intermediate small savings association” means a small institution with assets of at least $280 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years, and less than $1.122 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.
These asset-size threshold adjustments are effective January 1, 2011.
