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CRA Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) implementing regulations and the Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment (Q&As) provide definitions and information for determining whether a loan, investment or service qualifies for credit in a bank’s CRA examination.  

If you represent a national bank, federal savings association, or other interested party that is a stakeholder in a bank-related activity that you believe qualifies under CRA, you may use the CRA Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request process to request the OCC's review to verify qualification. Confirmation of an activity for CRA purposes is not a determination of legal permissibility, and the OCC reserves the right to separately determine whether an activity is legally permissible. If you represent a financial institution, you must ensure that the activity is legally permissible before engaging in it.

Before You Submit a Request

  • For activities conducted between October 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021 – Review the CRA Illustrative List of Qualifying Activities (PDF) and find the example that best describes the activity.
  • The list is not exhaustive and does not include every possible example of a qualifying activity.
  • If you find an example that is similar to your activity and the activity was conducted during the period beginning October 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021, you do not need to submit this form.
  • If you do not find an example that is similar to your activity, or if the activity was conducted prior to October 1, 2020, or after December 31, 2021, you may submit this request.
  • For Bank Submitters

    • National banks and federal savings associations can now use BankNet to submit their Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request.
  • For Other Submitters

    • Complete the Qualifying Activity Confirmation Request Form and submit the completed form via e-mail or mail. See the detailed instruction below for more information.
    • Please only submit a Qualifying Activity Request via one method.
  1. Download the Form: Click the "Open CRA Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request Form" button below. Save the form directly to your computer. Do not use "Print" or "Save As." Instead, download the form to your desktop, use the "Save File" icon, or use the shortcut Ctrl+S.
    • This step is important and ensures our system can capture the information in the form.
  2. Fill Out the Form: Open the saved form on your computer and fill in all the required fields.
  3. Attach Supporting Documents: Include all relevant supporting documentation as attachments where indicated in the submission form to facilitate the OCC's determination.
  4. Check Your Form: Once the form has been finished with all the required fields, save the form, and click the "Validate" button at the bottom of the form to ensure everything is complete before submitting.
  5. One Activity per Form: Submit a separate form for each activity you want reviewed. The OCC will review and determine qualification of one activity per form.
  6. Submit Form: Do not submit more than one form per email, and do not include separate attachments in the email. Attachments must be added where indicated in the form. Email the completed validated form to AEMProcess_PROD@occ.treas.gov.

Alternatively, you may download or print the CRA Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request Form and submit the completed form by mail, with copies of all relevant supporting documentation to facilitate the OCC's determination, to the following address:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Attention: Compliance Risk Policy, QA Submission Processing Unit
400 7th St. SW
Washington, DC 20219

Forms sent via postal mail may delay receipt and processing of your request. The OCC considers forms received when they are received and processed by the OCC's Qualifying Activities Submission processing unit.

If you submit the request by postal mail, do not also submit copies by email.

Confirmation of Your Request

  1. The OCC will confirm receipt of your emailed or mailed request to review the activity described in the CRA Qualifying Activities Confirmation Request Form and provide the request number unique to your submission.
  2. Forms are considered received during regular business hours Monday through Friday (excluding federal holidays), between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm ET.
  3. We will send confirmation of receipt of an emailed submission within 24 hours to the email address that you provide in the form or within 24 hours of receipt and data entry into our system when mailed.

If you encounter difficulties submitting the form via email, or do not receive confirmation within 24 hours:

  1. Verify the form was submitted to the correct OCC email address.
  2. Verify that you submitted a saved PDF form, not a saved PDF document.
  3. How to distinguish a PDF Form from a PDF Document:
    • Find the form you saved to your computer and right-click on the icon to see the dropdown menu.
    • Select "Properties" from the dropdown menu.
    • Click on the "Details" tab.
    • Review the "Type" field:
      • A properly downloaded or saved form will display the Type as "Adobe Acrobat Forms Document," the machine-readable format that can be submitted to the QA Confirmation Request system.
      • A PDF document, saved by printing to PDF or using "Save As" will display the Type as "Adobe Acrobat Document," a non-machine-readable format that cannot be submitted to the QA Confirmation Request system.
  4. What to do if you submitted the wrong file type:
    • If the form submitted was a PDF document, you will need to return to the original online form. If you have not downloaded or saved a copy in the "Adobe Acrobat Forms Document" format, you may need to recomplete the form.
    • Do not save the form by selecting the "Print" or "Save As" options. Download the form directly to your desktop, or click on the "Save File" icon, or select "File," then select "Save" from the menu bar, or type Ctrl+S to save the form to your desktop. This is necessary in order for our system to capture the information in the form.
    • Resubmit the request using the Adobe Acrobat Forms Document type.

Submit any questions related to the submission process to QAConfirmationRequest@occ.treas.gov or call (202) 649-5470. Please include your Name, Title, Organization Name, Request Number (if applicable), and a method to contact you (phone number or e-mail address).