CRA Exam Readiness Starts with Documentation: Community Development Strategies for 2026

What This Webinar Covers

The CRA regulatory framework is in transition. The 2023 CRA Final Rule carried a January 1, 2026 applicability date for substantive provisions, and on March 28, 2025, the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC announced their intent to rescind it. The agencies issued a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 16, 2025, and the comment period closed August 18, 2025. As of June 2026, the rescission has not been finalized.

What has not changed in either framework is the documentation expectation. Examiners credit community development activities based on evidence of CRA purpose, geographic alignment, and benefit to low- and moderate-income individuals or areas. Documentation discipline that holds under either framework is the most defensible position an institution can take into its next exam.

This 30-minute session shows compliance and CRA teams how to build exam-ready community development records in 2026, regardless of which framework applies to the next exam cycle.

What You Will Learn

• The current CRA regulatory picture, including the 2023 Final Rule timeline, the proposed rescission, and what each step means for community development documentation today
• The four community development categories under the 1995 framework and the documentation each requires, including the size and purpose tests for economic development
• The five community development documentation gaps most commonly observed at exam, and the operational steps that close them
• How to shift from spreadsheet-based tracking to a year-round community development system of record covering CRA purpose classification, assessment area assignment, embedded documentation, and multi-year trend analysis
• A focused walk-through of the RiskExec Community Development module, including configurable dashboards, Goal Charts, Multi-File Charts, and exam-ready reporting

Why This Matters Now

Examiners continue to evaluate community development activity under the 1995 framework while the agencies work through the proposed rescission. Institutions that wait for regulatory certainty before strengthening documentation practices give up months of preparation time and absorb the gaps at the next exam.

The documentation elements that hold under any framework are foundational: CRA purpose tied to a defined category, geographic alignment to the assessment area or a qualifying broader statewide or regional area, and evidence of LMI benefit. Building those records continuously, rather than reconstructing them before an exam, is the difference between defending community development credit and losing it.

Who Should Attend

This session is built for compliance and CRA leaders at financial institutions, including:

• Chief Compliance Officers
• Directors of Fair and Responsible Banking
• CRA Officers and CRA Specialists
• Community Development Officers and CD Managers
• Compliance Program Leads

The content assumes familiarity with the CRA community development framework. Attendees who have already seen the RiskExec Community Development module will get additional value from the dashboard and reporting walk-through.

Can't attend live? Register anyway and RiskExec will send the recording and slide deck within 24 hours of the session.