Title 12, Banks and BankingRelease 119-110

§4702 Definitions

Title 12 › CHAPTER 47 — COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BANKING › SUBCHAPTER I — COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS › § 4702

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in this part so readers know what they mean. The Administrator is the person who runs the Fund. The appropriate Federal banking agency means the federal banking regulator and also includes the National Credit Union Administration for insured credit unions. Affiliate means a related company as defined in federal banking law. The Board is the Community Development Advisory Board. A community development financial institution (CDFI) is an organization (not an individual) whose main goal is community development, that serves a specific area or group, offers development services with loans or investments, involves local residents in governance, and is not a government agency. If a bank holding company wants CDFI status, the whole company and its units must meet the CDFI rules, and if they do not, its subsidiaries cannot qualify; the same rule applies to subsidiaries of insured banks. A community partner is an organization that provides loans, investments, or development help (examples: banks, credit unions, nonprofits, government agencies, and certain investment firms). A community partnership is an agreement between a CDFI and a community partner to provide services or money. Depository institution holding company, insured credit union, insured depository institution, affiliate, subsidiary, and State have meanings used in federal banking law, with the special rule that a CDFI corporation is not a subsidiary if a controller owns less than 25% of a class of voting shares and cannot pick a majority of directors. Development services are activities like business planning, financial counseling, and marketing or management help. The Fund means the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Investment area is a place (including reservations) that meets the Fund’s economic distress criteria (such as poverty, unemployment, population loss, or blight) and has big unmet needs for loans or investments, or is in a designated empowerment zone. Low-income means income at or below 80% of the area median (with a special rule for nonmetropolitan areas). Targeted population means low-income people or groups who lack good access to loans or investments, including Indian tribes. The training program is the Fund’s training program.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §4702

Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For purposes of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)Administrator (2) Appropriate Federal banking agency
The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Fund appointed under section 4703(b) of this title.
(3)Affiliate
The term “affiliate” has the same meaning as in section 1841(k) of this title.
(4)Board
The term “Board” means the Community Development Advisory Board established under section 4703(d) of this title.
(5)Community development financial institution
(A)In general
The term “community development financial institution” means a person (other than an individual) that—
(i)has a primary mission of promoting community development;
(ii)serves an investment area or targeted population;
(iii)provides development services in conjunction with equity investments or loans, directly or through a subsidiary or affiliate;
(iv)maintains, through representation on its governing board or otherwise, accountability to residents of its investment area or targeted population; and
(v)is not an agency or instrumentality of the United States, or of any State or political subdivision of a State.
(B)Conditions for qualification of holding companies
(i)Consolidated treatment
A depository institution holding company may qualify as a community development financial institution only if the holding company and the subsidiaries and affiliates of the holding company collectively satisfy the requirements of subparagraph (A).
(ii)Exclusion of subsidiary or affiliate for failure to meet consolidated treatment rule
No subsidiary or affiliate of a depository institution holding company may qualify as a community development financial institution if the holding company and the subsidiaries and affiliates of the holding company do not collectively meet the requirements of subparagraph (A).
(C)Conditions for subsidiaries
No subsidiary of an insured depository institution may qualify as a community development financial institution if the insured depository institution and its subsidiaries do not collectively meet the requirements of subparagraph (A).
(6)Community partner
The term “community partner” means a person (other than an individual) that provides loans, equity investments, or development services, including a depository institution holding company, an insured depository institution, an insured credit union, a nonprofit organization, a State or local government agency, a quasi-governmental entity, and an investment company authorized to operate pursuant to the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 [15 U.S.C. 661 et seq.].
(7)Community partnership
The term “community partnership” means an agreement between a community development financial institution and a community partner to provide development services, loans, or equity investments, to an investment area or targeted population.
(8)Depository institution holding company
The term “depository institution holding company” has the same meaning as in section 1813 of this title.
(9)Development services
The term “development services” means activities that promote community development and are integral to lending or investment activities, including—
(A)business planning;
(B)financial and credit counseling; and
(C)marketing and management assistance.
(10)Fund
The term “Fund” means the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund established under section 4703(a) of this title.
(11)Indian reservation
The term “Indian reservation” has the same meaning as in section 1903(10) of title 25, and shall include land held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations, and village corporations, as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], public domain Indian allotments, and former Indian reservations in the State of Oklahoma.
(12)Indian tribe
The term “Indian tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation, as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
(13)Insured community development financial institution
The term “insured community development financial institution” means any community development financial institution that is an insured depository institution or an insured credit union.
(14)Insured credit union
The term “insured credit union” has the same meaning as in section 1752(7) of this title.
(15)Insured depository institution
The term “insured depository institution” has the same meaning as in section 1813 of this title.
(16)Investment area
The term “investment area” means a geographic area (or areas) including an Indian reservation that—
(A)(i)meets objective criteria of economic distress developed by the Fund, which may include the percentage of low-income families or the extent of poverty, the rate of unemployment or underemployment, rural population outmigration, lag in population growth, and extent of blight and disinvestment; and
(ii)has significant unmet needs for loans or equity investments; or
(B)encompasses or is located in an empowerment zone or enterprise community designated under section 1391 of title 26.
(17)Low-income
The term “low-income” means having an income, adjusted for family size, of not more than—
(A)for metropolitan areas, 80 percent of the area median income; and
(B)for nonmetropolitan areas, the greater of—
(i)80 percent of the area median income; or
(ii)80 percent of the statewide nonmetropolitan area median income.
(18)State
The term “State” has the same meaning as in section 1813 of this title.
(19)Subsidiary
The term “subsidiary” has the same meaning as in section 1813 of this title, except that a community development financial institution that is a corporation shall not be considered to be a subsidiary of any insured depository institution or depository institution holding company that controls less than 25 percent of any class of the voting shares of such corporation, and does not otherwise control in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of the corporation.
(20)Targeted population
The term “targeted population” means individuals, or an identifiable group of individuals, including an Indian tribe, who—
(A)are low-income persons; or
(B)otherwise lack adequate access to loans or equity investments.
(21)Training program
The term “training program” means the training program operated by the Fund under section 4708 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Small Business Investment Act of 1958, referred to in par. (6), is Pub. L. 85–699, Aug. 21, 1958, 72 Stat. 689, which is classified principally to chapter 14B (§ 661 et seq.) of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 661 of Title 15 and Tables. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, referred to in pars. (11) and (12), is Pub. L. 92–203, Dec. 18, 1971, 85 Stat. 688, which is classified generally to chapter 33 (§ 1601 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1601 of Title 43 and Tables.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 4702

Title 12, Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110