The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) today opened the fiscal year (FY) 2015 application period for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. Application materials are available on the CDFI Fund’s website in anticipation of the publication of the Notice of Guarantee Authority (NOGA) in the Federal Register later this week. The NOGA makes up to $750 million in bond guarantee authority available to eligible Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in FY 2015.
Through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, selected certified CDFIs or their designees will issue bonds that are guaranteed by the Federal government and use the bond proceeds to extend capital for community development financing and for long-term community investments. Authorized uses of the loans financed through bond proceeds may include a variety of financial activities, such as supporting commercial facilities that promote revitalization, community stability, and job creation/retention; housing that is principally affordable to low-income people; businesses that provide jobs for low-income people or are owned by low-income people; and community or economic development in low-income and underserved rural areas.
For FY 2015, the Secretary of the Treasury may guarantee bond issues having a minimum size of $100 million each, up to an aggregate total of $750 million. Multiple CDFIs may pool together in a single $100 million bond issuance provided that each eligible CDFI participates at a minimum of $10 million.
New this application round, the CDFI Fund will review Guarantee Applications submitted by Qualified Issuers that propose to use alternative financing structures. The FY 2015 NOGA describes how an Affiliate of a Controlling CDFI may apply for CDFI certification for the sole purpose of participating as an Eligible CDFI in the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. The NOGA describes each CDFI certification criterion and how it applies to the Affiliate/Controlling CDFI proposal.