CRA rule raises legal questions for attorneys, strategic questions for banks

There is no shortage of criticism for the new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) standards. A federal court found several arguments against aspects of the final rule compelling enough to order a preliminary injunction on its enforcement. Given that the full implementation date has been pushed back, giving regulators time to iron out the contentious rough patches, industry insiders say they have reason to believe banks’ efforts to prepare for the new CRA will not be in vain.