Proposed rule change would allow banks to count sports stadium upgrades as helping the poor

(Image credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

last updated 16 December 2019

Financing upgrades to NFL stadiums might soon count as helping the poor, Bloomberg reports.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, regulators appointed by President Trump to rewrite the Community Reinvestment Act — a 1977 law designed to encourage U.S. banks to spend a portion of their money helping people in lower-income neighborhoods — drafted a list of hypothetical ways banks can meet the requirement, including improvements to stadiums.

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Bloomberg notes the inclusion has already led to skepticism, but it's merely an idea at this point, and the proposal is open for public feedback. As people weigh in, Bloomberg reports, pressure may mount for the regulators to clarify what constitutes an "improvement" in this instance. For instance, banks skirting the law by financing a new video screen or sound system would likely face some resistance. Read more at Bloomberg.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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