The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today announced the availability of data on small business, small farm, and community development lending reported by commercial banks and thrifts.

As revised in 1995, the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) generally require the reporting of data on these types of lending by independent commercial banks and savings associations having total assets of $250 million or more, and by commercial banks and savings associations of any size if owned by a holding company having assets of $1 billion or more. Analysis of Call Report and Thrift Financial Report data indicates that reporting institutions account for about 84 percent of the number of small business loans and 31 percent of the number of small farm loans extended by all commercial banks and savings associations.

From the data reported, the FFIEC prepares a disclosure statement, in electronic form, for each reporting commercial bank and savings association. The FFIEC also prepares aggregate reports for each of the metropolitan statistical areas and each of the nonmetropolitan counties in the United States and its territories.

The small business and small farm lending data reported under the CRA regulations are more limited than the data reported on home mortgage lending under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The CRA data include information only on loans originated or purchased, not on applications that are turned down or withdrawn by the applicant. Unlike HMDA data, the CRA data do not include information about applicant income, sex, or racial or ethnic background, although the CRA data do indicate whether a loan is extended to a borrower with annual revenues of $1 million or less. The CRA data are not reported application-by-application as HMDA data are, rather, the CRA data are aggregated into three loan size categories and then reported at the census tract level.

The 2000 CRA data reflect originations and purchases of small business and small farm loans from 1,941 institutions, including 1,471 commercial banks and 470 savings associations. (See attached fact sheet and related tables). A total of approximately 5 million small business loans, totaling $179 billion, and approximately 204,000 small farm loans, totaling about $12 billion, were reported for 2000. The number of small business loans reported in 2000 increased by 55 percent from 1999; the total dollar amount of these loans increased by about 3 percent from 1999 to 2000.

Measured by number of loans, 42 percent of the small business loans reported for 2000 were extended to borrowers with revenues of $1 million or less, down from 60 percent in 1999. The number of small farm loans made to borrowers with revenues of $1 million or less in 2000 was 90 percent, compared with 91 percent in 1999. The vast majority of reported small business and small farm loans extended in 2000 (92 percent) were for amounts under $100,000. Small business loans were heavily concentrated in central city and suburban areas, as are both the U.S. population and U.S. businesses. Small farm loans were heavily concentrated in rural areas.

The variation in small business lending among census tracts grouped into income categories generally parallels the distribution of the population and businesses among these categories. Most small farm loans are made in rural areas regardless of income. In 2000, the proportion of the number and dollar amount of all loans to small businesses extended in low- and moderate-income areas did not change from 1999. Similarly, the proportion of the number and dollar amount of small business loans in middle- and upper-income areas in 2000 also remained unchanged from 1999.

In 2000, commercial banks and savings associations reported community development lending that totaled about $20 billion. The dollar amount of community development loans increased by 15 percent from 1999 to 2000; the number of these loans changed only marginally from 1999, decreasing from approximately 26,000 in 1999 to approximately 24,000 in 2000.

A community development loan has as its primary purpose affordable housing for low- or moderate-income individuals, community services targeted to these individuals, activities that promote economic development by financing01/15/2009 10:56 AMtalize or stabilize low- or moderate-income neighborhoods. Community development loans are not otherwise reported under CRA regulations as small business or small farm loans, or as home mortgage loans under HMDA (except for multifamily dwelling loans reported under HMDA).

The FFIEC has prepared aggregate disclosure statements of small-business and small-farm lending for each of the metropolitan statistical areas and each of the nonmetropolitan counties in the United States and its territories, and has distributed these statements to central depositories throughout the nation, where they are available for public inspection. The 2000 CRA data will be available on the FFIEC Web site on July 30, 2001. An order form for CRA data and related items, with descriptions of the various reports and formats available, is attached to this release. Central depository locations, and an order form for other data available from the FFIEC (including data on home mortgage loans, reported under HMDA), can be found at the FFIEC Web site (www.ffiec.gov/cra).

Attachments:

Fact Sheet on 2000 Data (with tables) (Note: Tables are in PDF)
CRA Data Order Form and Item Descriptions (PDF)