Community Investments Newsletter

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Volume 14; No. 1; March, 2002

Community Investments, March 2002 (PDF -1.7MB)
Special Edition: A Guide to Community Development Investments

• Cover (PDF - 1.15MB)
• Editor's Notebook (PDF - 46KB)
  Fred Mendez
• Low Income Housing Tax Credits (PDF - 80KB)
  Over the past decade, the federal Low-income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) has emerged as an innovative and creditible financial instrument.
  Catherine H. Such, Columbia Housing
• Community Development Real Estate Investment Trusts (PDF - 71KB)
  The Community Development Trust (CDT) is the only REIT created solely for the purpose of acquiring assets that benefit community development.
  Judd S. Levy, Community Development Trust
• Equity Equivalent Investments (PDF - 72KB)
  The equity equivalent investment product (EQ2) provides a new source and type of capital for community development financial institutions.
  Beth Lipson, National Community Capital
• Small Business Investment Companies (PDF - 62KB)
  SBICs enjoy a special status within the CRA because they are recognized as specifically CRA-eligible. They also enjoy a favored position in the emerging Gramm-Leach-Bliley regulatory framework relative to other permissible merchant banking activities.
  Lawrence Mondschein, CRA Funding, LLC
• Community Development Municipal Bonds (PDF - 65KB)
  While financial institutions are experienced with the lending and service aspects of the performance tests, some banks are still grappling with what constitutes a qualified investment.
  Barbara Rose VanScoy, CRAFund Advisors
• Mortgage Backed Securities and Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (PDF - 81KB)
  The MBS market is enormous, with the volume of outstanding MBSs exceeding $3.8 trillion. CRA officers should should understand the benefits of MBSs to enable them to work with bank investment officers.
  Andrew Kelman, Freddie Mac
• Community Development Venture Capital (PDF - 83KB)
  Community Development Venture Capital funds use the tools of venture capital to create jobs, wealth and entrepreneurial capacity to benefit low-income people and distressed communities.
  Kerwin Tesdell, Community Development Venture Capital Alliance
• Regulatory Resource (PDF - 55KB)
  Questions and answers for qualified investments.
  
  

Free subsciption and additional copies are available upon request to the Community Affairs Department, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 101 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94105, or send an e-mail to Community Affairs.

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The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Federal Reserve System. Material herein may be reprinted or abstracted provided Community Investments is credited. Please provide our Community Affairs Department with a copy of any publication in which material is reprinted.