I just posed this question to our auditor and he said the delayed indefinitely refers to the 1071 citations in the CRA and not to the website rule.

I think your auditor needs to re-read the 02/01/24 Federal Register. It does not relate to 1071

DATES:

Effective date:

This rule is effective on April 1, 2024, except for amendment nos. 29, 52, and 75, which are effective April 1, 2024, through January 1, 2031, and amendment nos. 7, 11, 18, 20, 25, 35, 39, 43, 45, 49, 58, 62, 66, 68, and 72, which are delayed indefinitely. The agencies will publish a document in the Federal Register announcing an effective date for the delayed amendments.

After looking at it more, I think I agree with him.

The change to 345.43(c)(1) requiring the CRA file be on the website shows in the final rule under subpart D (page 7137)

Amendment 68 was to add paragraph (b)(2)(iii), which (would have) required a statement in the public CRA file on the availability of the small business lending data on the CFPB's website.

I am not sure what you are referring too? Page 7137 deals with the availability of HMDA data. It has nothing to do with posting anything on the website. Plus, that whole section is about the Common Rule, of which not all of it is effective in April 2024.

https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-25797/p-6591

The link above takes you to the section of the federal rule that changes 345.43(c)(1) requiring the public file be on the website. It's located in subpart D of the rule, not amendment 68.

Amendment 68 that is being referenced as delayed indefinitely only adds paragraph 345.43(b)(2)(iii) (statement in public file about the availability of the small business data on the CFPB website) and amends heading of paragraph 345.43(b)(2). Given it references the small business data, it makes sense it's delayed indefinitely as the challenges are considered by SCOTUS. Amendment 68 doesn't have anything to do with the public file being hosted on the website, however.

Ah - OK - I got it. Was misreading that. Thanks. I now agree. Thanks for your persistence

My understanding is that the text of the new common rule, applicable to all agencies, begins on page 7107 of the FR, and goes on through to page 7172, where Appendix G picks up the legacy rules for each agency.
As noted on page 6579 of the FR: Until the applicability dates for these provisions, banks will follow the current CRA regulations, included as appendix G to the revised CRA regulations.
So, my focus is on pages 7107 - 7172 and I will have my Public File on our website, as one of the few provisions required by April 1, 2024.
Good luck everyone!

We are an Intermediate Bank, and I am unclear whether we are to include our Loan to Deposit ratio in the Public File. Under the existing rule “Small Bank” includes Intermediate Small Banks, so we have included it in the past.

The Common Rule says “A small bank..must include in it’s public file the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio…” , but it only defines a “Small bank” as having assets <$600 Million, and does not seem to include Intermediate Banks. The OCC’s version also states “Small bank….”, but their definition of “Small Bank” has not been updated and is still the existing definition that includes Intermediate Small bank.

Ultimately we can include any other information the bank chooses, so no harm in putting it in. I tend to lean towards the Common rule, but these disconnects make navigation hard. The Public File should have been a fairly easy and straight forward task…

For the public files location on the website does it have to be something on a standalone page or could it be one of the links at the bottom of all our pages, similar to our Privacy Notice?

There is no specific guidance. It just has to be made available.

Thank you

Should the public file be in an ADA compliant format on the website, or would a PDF file suffice?

Additional question - I didn't see a requirement that all or a portion of the lobby notice should be included on the website version of the public file. Will it be acceptable to upload the requirements of the Public File in PDF format without also including a copy of the lobby notice or would it be considered a best practice to include it?

Hello, i am a bit confused on the website public file, if we are an institution that has a website do we "have" to have it on their or is it an option if we maintain a physical paper file

If you have a website, you are required to maintain a copy of your CRA public file on the website as of April 1.

If the institution is not a CRA reportable bank due to its threshold, and the institution does have a website, will the April 1 deadline of posting the CRA public file on bank's website apply?

345.43(c)(1):

(c) Location of public information. A bank must make available to the public for inspection, upon request and at no cost, the information required in this section as follows:

(1) For banks that maintain a website, all information required for the bank's public file under this section must be maintained on the bank's website.

I do not see where this requirement is dependent on being a Small, Small Intermediate or a Large Bank.

Additional question - I didn't see a requirement that all or a portion of the lobby notice should be included on the website version of the public file. Will it be acceptable to upload the requirements of the Public File in PDF format without also including a copy of the lobby notice or would it be considered a best practice to include it?

A public file is a public file and a lobby notice is a lobby notice. How are they related?

BeachBum did you ever hear anything back on this? or find out from another source the answer to this question?

I guess if you are required to make this information available to the public on your website under the regulation, I am not sure why you would do it using a non-ADA compliant process. Your entire website should be designed with ADA compliance in mind.

I was unsure of the same thing, and we have been working to add our public file to our website in compliance with the ADA.
Was curious what BB had heard back on that, if anything.
I am not an ADA expert but I was still interested in what, if anything, BB learned about that and if there was some sort of 'exemption' that I was not seeing in the reg.

Thank you

I'm confused as to the issue with PDF files? I know if you scan a paper in, it could make it difficult for screen readers. I just tested our PDF version of our CRA Public File though, and the screen reader had no issues (PDF converted from Word). Is there another issue with PDFs that I'm not aware of?

I am not that knowledgeable on ADA website compliance. But here is a good article on ADA and PDFs.

https://accessibilitylaws.org/guide...or-ada-compliance-a-comprehensive-guide/

Thanks!