Once defined, would senior management have a reason to alter or change its assessment area?
Senior management should periodically review its assessment area to ensure that it is still reasonable, particularly as the bank experiences growth, either through acquisition or the geographic expansion of its loan volume. Question: Are there limitations on the delineation of an assessment area? Answer: The assessment area is based on geographic considerations and must consist only of whole geographies. It may not reflect illegal discrimination; may not arbitrarily exclude low- or moderate-income geographies; and may not extend substantially beyond an MSA boundary. Also an assessment area may not extend beyond a state boundary unless the assessment area is located in a multistate MSA. It is important to note that a minority-owned bank may not identify a specific ethnic group rather than a geographic area as its assessment area and should ensure that it does not exclude other minorities or non-minorities that reside within its assessment area.
