I have been in Compliance for a few years and have just recently taken over the role of Compliance Officer. I currently have an auditor (contracted) reviewing my CRA program. Problem is, I don't know a whole lot about CRA. Are there any good programs out there that anyone has taken/attended that would be beneficial to a new comer?

How about the CRA&Fair Lending Colloquium?

I attended one a couple of years ago, it was very worthwhile. I am going to try to go again this year.

Back in 2009 I attended the Interagency CRA Workshop that was put on by the Fed Reserve of KC in Oklahoma City. You might try searching to see if anyone is offering anything like that. It was free.

Thanks. Anyone else out there attended the Colloquium?

Usually starts off with a golf day, so it has that going for it. Florida in November is nice for golf too. If you can get your bank to send you, it is worth the trip.

I attended the Colloquim in Las Vegas in 2010 and it was excellent. Really helped me prepare and organize for the bank's CRA exam. I would highly recommend it, whether new or seasoned CRA officer.

If you are a FRB bank, follow Job Security's advice about the Workshops. Call your FRB contact and let them know of your status as a new CO and you will get some excellent hand-holding and one-on-one training. The price is right, too! You get the training from the folks that you will see at your exams and you'll make some friends with other CRA-ers in your local area.

Our bank collects information but we are not required to report....

Who (within the bank) should be trained on CRA????? Loan Officers....anyone else.....

All our lenders and their administrative staff get CRA Training. In addition, senior leadership gets it as well as the Board of Directors.

I would add anyone else on that is responsible for reporting any information you collect for CRA purposes (for example, whomever is responsible for identifying Community Development Loans).

I am in charge of CRA at a 2.9B bank. I require all employees to take the online basic training. Then I do specific training for those people who need to know more than the basics, i.e. loan officers and admins.

I attended the Colloquium in 2011 in Baltimore, right after I came to this large bank. It was very informative and I made some great contacts of other CRA officers at other banks.

There is also a seminar presented by the regulators, but it is only presented every other year. Next one is 2014.

I attended the 2012 Colloquium in San Antonio.

Garret01...did you attend? what did you think?

I thought it was a lot of mash potatoes without much meat!

Lipty Lou,

I did not attend this year. We are a new bank (about 3 years old) so we are still considered a small bank. I realize now, that there isn't a lot to CRA at this point. Just maintaining the public file and analyzing loan/deposit penetration.

I may attend the Colloquium when we are a little bigger. I don't think it would be worth the money at this point.

The 2014 Interagency CRA Conference will be in Chicago in March 2014. I don't know that the location has been announced yet, but I asked.