United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-07-17 monographic deposited born digital 21 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-1023T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T P0b002ee18039354c f:d081023t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T GAO-08-1023T Bank loans Banking regulation Civil rights law enforcement Data collection Discrimination Federal regulations Lending institutions Loan interest rates Loans Minorities Mortgage loans Personal loans Policy evaluation Racial discrimination Regulatory agencies Reporting requirements Risk assessment Small business Small business loans Standards Standards evaluation Surveys Policies and procedures Testimony A82913 The Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 (ECOA), generally prohibits lenders from collecting certain data from loan applicants, such as their race or gender, for nonmortgage loans (e.g., small business loans). FRB has stated that this provision of Regulation B minimizes the chances that lenders would use such data in an unlawful and discriminatory manner. However, others argue that the prohibition limits the capacity of researchers and regulators to identify possible discrimination in nonmortgage lending. This testimony is based on the GAO report, Fair Lending: Race and Gender Data Are Limited for Nonmortgage Lending (GAO-08-698, June 27, 2008). Specifically, GAO analyzes (1) studies on possible discrimination in nonmortgage lending and the data used in them, (2) FRB's 2003 decision to retain the prohibition of voluntary data collection, and (3) the benefits and costs of a data collection and reporting requirement. For this work, GAO conducted a literature review; reviewed FRB documents; analyzed issues involving the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which requires lenders to collect and publicly report data on personal characteristics for mortgage loan applicants; and interviewed FRB and others. FRB did not take a position on this report's analysis. In addition to restating its rationale for retaining the prohibition of voluntary data collection, FRB summarized GAO's findings, including the potential benefits and costs of additional data for fair lending enforcement. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T.pdf GAO-08-1023T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-1023T Testimony GAO-08-1023T; Fair Lending: Race and Gender Data Are Limited for Nonmortgage Lending; Bank loans Banking regulation Civil rights law enforcement Data collection Discrimination Federal regulations Lending institutions Loan interest rates Loans Minorities Mortgage loans Personal loans Policy evaluation Racial discrimination Regulatory agencies Reporting requirements Risk assessment Small business Small business loans Standards Standards evaluation Surveys Policies and procedures Volume 88 Page 1521 88 Stat. 1521 Volume 89 Page 1125 89 Stat. 1125 Public Law 90-321 Public Law 93-495 Public Law 94-200