WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have announced the 2025 updated Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) "small bank" and "intermediate small bank" asset-size thresholds.
The CRA regulations establish the framework and criteria by which the relevant agencies assess a financial institution's record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. Financial institutions are evaluated under different CRA examination procedures based upon their asset-size classification. The asset-size thresholds are adjusted annually based on the average change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is a measure of inflation, the Fed explained.
As a result of the 2.91% increase in the CPI-W for the period ending in November 2024, the CRA asset-size thresholds for small banks and intermediate small banks are:
- A small bank is an institution that, as of Dec. 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.609 billion
- An intermediate small bank is a small institution with assets of at least $402 million as of Dec. 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.609 billion as of Dec. 31 of either of the prior two calendar years
These thresholds are in effect from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 31, 2025. A list of the current and historical asset-size thresholds is available here.