READOUT: In Atlanta, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo Discusses Investments to Expand Access to Capital in Underserved Communities

Roundtable discussion highlights how the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions are expanding economic opportunity in rural and urban communities

ATLANTA, GA – Today, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo joined a meeting hosted by Carver State Bank, a Black-owned bank and certified community development financial institution (CDFI) and minority depository institution (MDI), to discuss the impact of the Treasury Department’s investments in expanding access to capital in underserved communities.

The Treasury Department has invested more than $8.5 billion in 175 federally insured depository institutions that are CDFIs or MDIs through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). Of this amount, $1.4 billion was invested in Black-owned and Black-majority shareholder depository institutions, including $15.85 million in Carver State Bank’s parent company. Investments across the ECIP portfolio are predicted to increase lending in Black communities by nearly $80 billion over the next decade. Additionally, the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has enhanced its efforts to make credit available and create wealth-building opportunities in underserved communities. In April 2023, the CDFI Fund announced $1.73 billion in grants through the Equitable Recovery Program, which included many awards to CDFIs that have strong track records of lending in majority-minority census tracts.

Last week, the Treasury Department released a revised certification application for CDFIs to further promote responsible lending to financially underserved communities – the first substantial update to the application since the CDFI Fund’s founding more than 25 years ago. The revised application reflects the evolution of the community finance field and helps ensure capital reaches underserved communities served by CDFIs. It was published following extensive engagement with members of the public, including community finance practitioners, advocacy organizations, and investors who are working to strengthen the financial infrastructure needed to invest in the economic potential of underserved communities nationwide.

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