Regional President Speech

The Organization for New Equality has been a partner to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in the work of improving the economic prospects in low income and minority communities in greater Boston. And I am especially grateful to ONE for this award. As we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday this week it is appropriate that we look at the road we've travelled and at the distance we still have to go. At the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston our September 1989 study on the gaps in approval rates between majority and minority borrowers created headlines nationwide. The study showed that for borrowers with similar financial profiles, the likelihood of an approved mortgage application was a function of .. their neighborhoods. This was the beginning of a long journey for the whole greater Boston community. The results of the study prompted the Bank and the Mass. Bankers Association to form a coalition of local lenders and community groups to work on the problem. Reverend Stith was a key player in these early discussions. It was just 7 years ago, on Martin Luther King Day in 1990 that the Bank, the MBA, and ONE announced the creation of the Mass. Community and Banking Council (which keeps all the concerned parties talking together), the Massachusetts Minority Investment Corporation, and the Mass. Housing Investment Corporation. Their results have been impressive. A study done five years after the Council's inception .. showed: * Between 1990 and 1993 the share of African American borrowers grew from 16.2 percent to 20.1 percent. * Denial rates for African American and Hispanic borrowers fell over the same period. For African American borrowers the rate fell from 37 .2 percent to 17 .5 percent. For Hispanic borrowers, mortgage denials fell from 25.3 percent to 13 .8 percent. * The share of low- and moderate income borrowers rose from 27 .3 percent of all 1990 loans to 38. 9 percent of loans in 1993. These figures represent the beginning of a commitment by lenders and community groups to work together. We at the Bank are grateful to Reverend ✓ Stith, in particular, for his commitment and leadership. His focus on the problem, and his ability to envision a solution which allowed lenders to cover both their traditional regulatory obligations for safety and soundness and their responsibilities under the Community Reinvestment Act, was critical to its early success. With your help we have been able to move forward. Thank you.

Cathy E. Minehan (1997, January 20). Regional President Speech. Speeches, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19970121_cathy_e_minehan

@misc{wtfs_regional_speeche_19970121_cathy_e_minehan,
  author = {Cathy E. Minehan},
  title = {Regional President Speech},
  year = {1997},
  month = {Jan},
  howpublished = {Speeches, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19970121_cathy_e_minehan},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}