Washington, DC  Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced awards totaling nearly $17.9 million to 69 FDIC-insured depository institutions for serving economically distressed communities across the nation. The awards are being made through the fiscal year (FY) 2014 round of the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program). The activities that qualify these institutions for BEA Program awards occur in census tracts where at least 30 percent of the population lives at or below the national poverty level and where the unemployment rate is at least 1.5 times the national average.

Collectively, during the one-year assessment period, these 69 depository institutions increased their loans and investments in distressed communities by $472.1 million; increased their loans, deposits, and technical assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) by $43.8 million; increased their equity and equity-like loans and grants to CDFIs by $4.7 million; and increased the provision of financial services in distressed communities by $50.9 million.

Since 2009, BEA Program awardees that received an award of $50,000 or more are required to invest an amount equal to the award in eligible activities in distressed communities and report on the use of the award. Most recently, the FY 2012 awardees reported on the use of their awards to the CDFI Fund. Collectively, 34.1 percent of their award dollars were invested in affordable housing projects; 33.7 percent were invested in small business loans; and 17.2 percent of the FY 2012 awards were invested in commercial real estate projects-with the remainder of that year's awards being used for CDFI grants and loans and financial and community services. The $17.9 million awarded under the FY 2014 round of the BEA Program today will also be re-invested into distressed communities and CDFIs.

The FY 2014 BEA Program awardees were selected after a comprehensive review of 98 applications received by the CDFI Fund from FDIC-insured depository institutions across the nation that requested more than $211 million in funding under the FY 2014 round. The amount requested by the applicants in the FY 2014 BEA Program round represents a 132 percent increase over the prior year.

2014 BEA Program Award Resources

• BEA Program Award Book: Learn key facts and statistics about the full group of awardees.
• Searchable Award Database: View the profiles of individual awardees.

About the BEA Program

The Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program) rewards FDIC-insured depository institutions for making investments in certified CDFIs as well as in the most distressed communities in the country. In order to receive an award, these banks and thrifts must demonstrate an increase in their investments with at least 30% of their residents having incomes less than the national poverty level and 1.5 times the unemployment rate. The BEA awards help offset some of the risk associated with investing in these distressed communities and provide an incentive to invest. The greater the loan increase, the greater the award. Since its inception in 1994, the BEA Program has awarded grants totaling approximately $411 million.

For more information about the BEA Program, please view the Fact Sheet or visit the CDFI Fund's website at www.cdfifund.gov/bea.

About the CDFI Fund

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program, and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $40 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and $325 million has been guaranteed in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.

To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please view the Fact Sheet or visit the CDFI Fund's website at www.cdfifund.gov.