The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is requesting public comment on a new reporting form for all certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). The CDFI Fund is releasing this request for comment today in anticipation of its publication tomorrow in the Federal Register.
The objective of the Annual Certification and Data Collection Report Form is to enable the CDFI Fund to recertify CDFIs while reducing the burden of the process that currently occurs every three years. In addition to recertifying CDFIs, this report also seeks to collect financial and impact data on all certified CDFIs annually to provide the CDFI Fund and the community development finance industry with more insight into the state and accomplishments of CDFIs.
A certified CDFI is a specialized financial institution that works in markets that are underserved by traditional financial institutions. CDFIs provide a unique range of financial products and services in economically distressed target markets, such as mortgage financing for low-income and first-time homebuyers and not-for-profit developers, flexible underwriting and risk capital for needed community facilities, and technical assistance, commercial loans and investments to small start-up or expanding businesses in low-income areas.
CDFI certification is a designation conferred by the CDFI Fund and is a requirement for accessing many of the CDFI Fund’s award programs. The CDFI Annual Certification and Data Collection Report Form will replace the extensive process conducted every three years with a shorter annual report. This report will also collect financial and impact data from all CDFIs regardless of whether they have received monetary awards in their last fiscal year. This report will collect standardized data on the full universe of certified CDFIs.
Comments are specifically invited on:
- Whether the collection of information is consistent with the stated background and proposed use necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the CDFI Fund;
- The accuracy of the CDFI Fund’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information;
- Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
- Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of technology; and
- Estimates of operational or maintenance costs to provide information.
- The proposed Annual Certification and Data Collection Report Form and related Glossary are available on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/cdficert, in the Supplemental Resources section.
Written comments should be received on or before September 8, 2014 to be assured of consideration. All comments should be directed to Brette Fishman, Management Analyst at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20020; by e-mail to annualreport@cdfi.treas.gov; or by facsimile to (202) 508-0083. Please note that this is not a toll-free number.
July 8, 2014