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Our monthly research in the Federal Reserve System's archive of Community Reinvestment Act evaluations found that the Reserve Banks made public 16 evaluations during November. Fourteen of the evaluations listed were assigned ratings of "Satisfactory." We offer congratulations to two banks whose evaluations were rated "Outstanding":

• Washington Savings Bank, Lowell, MA
• Community First Bank of the Heartland, Mount Vernon, IL

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has announced its 2024 schedule of free, virtual workshops for directors, senior management, and other key executives of national community banks and federal savings associations. The OCC examiner-led workshops provide practical training and guidance to directors and senior management of national community banks and federal savings associations in a virtual learning environment to support the safe and sound operation of community-based financial institutions.

The workshops will be held from 1 – 4 p.m. EST on the dates indicated:

• January 9: Credit Risk: Recognizing and Responding to Risk
• January 18: Operational Risk: Navigating Rapid Changes
• February 15: Building Blocks: Developing Strong Management
• February 22: Risk Governance: Improving Effectiveness
• March 5: Compliance Risk: Understanding the Rules

Registration is required.

The FDIC has released its December 2023 list of 45 banks recently evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act. The list includes two banks — one in Waterloo, Alabama, and one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — whose evaluations were rated "Needs to Improve," and 40 banks whose evaluations were rated "Satisfactory."

The following three banks are to be congratulated on receiving "Outstanding" ratings on their evaluations:

• United Citizens Bank of Southern Kentucky, Columbia, Kentucky
• Exchange Bank, Kearney, Nebraska
• First Bank, Ketchikan, Alaska

The OCC has released a list of 42 CRA performance evaluations that became public In November. Of the evaluations listed, 29 are rated satisfactory, and the following 13 are rated outstanding:

• Community West Bank, N.A., Goleta, GA
• San Luis Valley Federal Bank. Alamosa, CO
• Citizens Bank & Trust, Inc., Trenton, GA
• The Citizens National Bank of Quitman,, Quitman, GA
• Central FS & LA, Cicero, IL
• The First National Bank of Ava, Ava, IL
• Home FS&LA of Grand Island, Grand Island, NE
• Valley National Bank, Passaic, NJ
• Pioneer Bank, Roswell, NM
• BNY Mellon, N.A., Pittsburg, PA
• The First National Bank in Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD
• Home Federal Bank of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
• Skyline National Bank, Independence, VA

The FDIC has issued FIL-62-2023 with guidance to help financiaol institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Illinois affected by severe storms and flooding from September 17–18, 2023.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) this morning announced it has published a toolkit for financial authorities and financial institutions for their third-party risk management and oversight.

The toolkit was developed in response to concerns over the extent and nature of financial institutions’ interactions with a broad and diverse ecosystem of third-party service providers, which could have implications for financial stability.

The primary emphasis of the toolkit is on critical third-party services, given the potential impact of their disruption on financial institutions’ critical operations and financial stability. It also looks holistically at financial institutions’ third-party risk management in light of changing industry practices and recent regulatory and supervisory approaches to operational resilience.

The toolkit, which incorporates feedback from a public consultation conducted over the summer, aims to (i) reduce fragmentation in regulatory and supervisory approaches to third-party risk management across jurisdictions and different areas of the financial services sector; (ii) strengthen financial institutions’ ability to manage third-party risks and financial authorities’ ability to monitor and strengthen the resilience of the financial system; and (iii) facilitate coordination among relevant stakeholders (i.e. financial authorities, financial institutions and third-party service providers).

The FSB promotes international financial stability by coordinating national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies as they work toward developing strong regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies. It fosters a level playing field by encouraging coherent implementation of these policies across sectors and jurisdictions. Working through its members, it seeks to strengthen financial systems and increase the stability of international financial markets. The policies developed in the pursuit of this agenda are implemented by jurisdictions and national authorities.

The FDIC has issued the lists of institutions scheduled for a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination during the first quarter 2024 and second quarter 2024.

The OCC also released its schedule of CRA evaluations to be conducted in the first and second quarters of 2024.

The Federal Reserve System posts CRA examination schedules on its website.

The Federal Housing Administration has announced proposed changes to its 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program.

The changes would:

• Increase the Limited 203(k) total rehabilitation costs limits
• Extend the rehabilitation period for both the Standard 203(k) and the Limited 203(k) types
• Revise the 203(k) consultant fee schedule

Comments on the FHA's proposal will be accepted through January 5, 2024.

The Federal Housing Administration has announced new loan limits for calendar year 2024 for its Single Family Title II forward and Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) insurance programs. Loan limits for most of the country will increase in the coming year due to continued strong home price appreciation over the past year.

For a complete list of FHA loan limits, areas at the FHA ceiling, and areas between the floor and the ceiling, visit the FHA's Loan Limits Page. FHA lenders can refer to Mortgagee Letters 2023-21 and 2023-22 for more details.

The Federal Reserve Board has released the minutes of its discount rate meetings from October 23 through November 1, 2023.