CRA Comment letters submitted during a bank's regular CRA examination. Woodstock Institute regularly comments on bank mergers throughout the Chicago region, and the nation. For information on a specific bank, please contact Woodstock Institute through the comment page.
Comment letter on the 2003 CRA examination of LaSalle Bank, N.A. Addresses the overall poor performance with regards to lending to minority households, the low level of multifamily loan origination to minority and low-income borrowers, the lack of small business start-up loan products, and the inequitable distribution of bank branches.
Comment letter on Household Bank FSB’s 1999 CRA Strategic Plan. The letter suggests that future strategic plans include a detailed break out of community development lending vs. investments; and a commitment to at least $250,000 per year in below-market equity-equivalent investments in CDFIs.
Comment letter on the CRA examination of M&I
Bank FSB’s proposed strategic plan. This letter states that banks
such as M&I Bank FSB that do a significant amount of business
nationwide over the Internet should consider even more expansive
assessment areas in order to remain accountable to all of the
communities that they serve.
Comment letter on the 1999 CRA examination of The Northern Trust Company strategic plan. Addresses the bank's low levels of lending, services, and investments in lower-income communities recommends that the Federal Reserve reject Northern Trust's 2000-2002 Strategic Plan.
Comment letter on the 2004 CRA examination of The Northern Trust Company. Our analysis of Northern Trust’s mortgage lending shows room for improvement in certain of the bank’s product lines, however, Northern Trust’s home purchase lending to African-Americans and refinance lending to African-Americans and Hispanics appear fairly strong. The bank is also a strong investor in the Chicago CDFI industry.
