Press Releases

The Community Reinvestment Act is federal legislation designed to ensure that banks are addressing the financial needs of low-to-moderate income individuals and communities. The OCC every two years rates the performance of banks in complying with the CRA. Failure to rate satisfactory or above can result in the denial of federal approval of any mergers or acquisitions by a bank.

"We are extremely pleased that we could unite First Union's technological advances in lending services and investments to serving communities throughout the northern region," said Donald Parcells, First Union National Bank-Atlantic president. "We are pledged to continue meeting these needs with innovative products and outstanding service going forward."

The OCC evaluated the performance under the CRA through May 31, 1997 of nine First Union National Bank subsidiaries. The First Union banking subsidiaries in the Atlantic region, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland were examined on 12 assessment factors including ascertaining community credit needs, community development, credit and deposit services, and marketing/advertising. All nine subsidiaries received an "outstanding" performance grade.

1996 Highlights of First Union-Atlantic's Community Reinvestment Program:

Urban Investment Corporation, a First Union community development corporation subsidiary, funded 22 projects and 20 loans from loan pools with total commitments of $13.6 million. $3.8 million construction loan and a $3.7 million letter of credit in support of a bond offering to Urban Movie Corporation, a nonprofit corporation formed for the purpose of developing and owning a multiplex theater in Newark, N.J.
$400,000 loan and $580,000 equity investment with the Valley Housing Development Corporation of Northampton, Pa. to convert a hardware store into 14 apartments for low income families. $2.56 million in construction financing to Equitable Realty Associates to rehabilitate, own and operate 34 apartment units for low-to-moderate income families in Yonkers, N.Y.

FIRST UNION CRA PROGRESS - QUICK LOOK

1989 - First Union makes strategic decision to enhance its Community Reinvestment Act program. First Union becomes one of the first banks in the U.S. to create an affordable mortgage product. 1992 - Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires bank lending efforts to minorities to be publicly disclosed.
1994- First Union creates a new small business banking division to focus on the specialized needs of the small business market. 1995-The secured MasterCard is introduced as an option for customers looking to re-establish their credit. HMDA indicates that African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be approved for a mortgage by First Union when compared to the national average.
1996-First Union introduces two new affordable home mortgage products resulting in $10 million in new mortgages within six months.

First Union creates the Ambassadors Council - a 12 member community advisory board to provide feedback and help create solutions and responses to community needs. First Union's community reinvestment activity totals $3.7 billion per year. 1997- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency assigns a rating of "outstanding record of meeting community credit needs" to First Union's nine general banking areas (Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, D.C.)

At September 30, 1997, First Union had assets of $144 billion and is the nation's sixth-largest bank holding company. First Union serves approximately 12 million customers throughout the East Coast and the nation.

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