Community Development Financial Institutions Program

The Department of the Treasury is issuing a revised interim rule implementing the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (Fund). The purpose of the CDFI Program is to promote economic revitalization and community development through investment in and assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Under the CDFI Program, the Fund provides financial and technical assistance in the form of grants, loans, equity investments and deposits to competitively selected CDFIs. The Fund provides such assistance to CDFIs to enhance their ability to make loans and investments, and to provide services for the benefit of designated investment areas, targeted populations, or both (target markets). In order for an organization to qualify as a CDFI, the organization must meet specific eligibility criteria. Two such criteria are that the organization shall have a primary mission of promoting community development and its total activities must be principally directed toward serving a target market. This revised interim rule makes three changes. First, it clarifies the primary mission eligibility test. Second, the revised interim rule provides that an organization can establish that its target market has either significant unmet needs for or lacks adequate access to loans or equity investments by demonstrating a lack of adequate access to financial services. Third, this revised interim rule reduces the burden for an organization to demonstrate that it serves a targeted population comprised of an identifiable group of individuals lacking access to loans, equity investments, or financial services. In order to facilitate implementation of the CDFI Program by participating CDFIs, the complete text of the regulations, as amended, is published by this revised interim rule.