Discrimination can be obvious, subtle or unintended. Charges of discrimination can come from any direction. Risk comes in the form of penalties, regulatory enforcement actions, civil liability, or damage to a bank's reputation, to mention a few. The best defense to these threats and risks is developing and maintaining a sound fair lending compliance management system.

Over the years Fair Lending violations have led to consent decrees that include:

•             Significant civil monetary penalties;

•             Reimbursement to borrowers; and

•             Burdensome remedial action to prevent further violations.

Upon completion of this program, participants understand:

• Laws and regulations;
• Bases of discrimination;
• Types of discrimination;

• How to build and maintain a fair lending compliance management system, including policies and procedures;
• How to conduct a fair lending risk assessment; 

1. Evaluating inherent and residual risk;

• For various loan products (commercial, real estate, consumer, etc.);
• For various aspects of the process (application, underwriting, pricing, advertising, collection);

1. Rating risk;

• How to mitigate fair lending risk:

• Reviewing policies and procedures for fair lending problems and eliminating those concerns; 
• Training - Who, How, When, and What
• Monitoring/Auditing;

• Exceptions;
• HMDA , CRA and Section 1071 data;
• Pricing;
• Marketing/Advertising; 
  1. Statistical analysis (regression analysis, etc.);
     • When is such analysis suggested;
     • How to conduct the analysis;
     • Should you do it yourself or contract the service;
• Recent Developments
  1. The impact of the Supreme Court's ruling on discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation;
  2. The CFPB’s interpretative rule on Equal Credit Opportunity (Regulation B); Discrimination based on the Bases of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity;
  3. Fair lending enforcement actions;
     • Redlining cases; 
• Proposed Rule
  1. Expansion of Regulation B to include data collection on loans to minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, and small businesses.