The NCUA has submitted its first Office of Minority and WomenInclusion Annual Report to Congress, providing details on MinorityDepository Institutions required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Under section 367 of the law, the NCUA must “establish a programto preserve credit unions designated as minority depositoryinstitutions. Prior to the enactment of Section 367 by Congress,NCUA had not established a method to identify these types of insituations,” said the report, released on Friday.

“NCUA recognizes theimportance of minority credit unions and the unique challenges theyoften face in serving their membership fields. As a result, theagency took proactive steps to comply with this new mandate,” thereport said.

NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz tasked the NCUA's Director of the Officeof Minority and Women Inclusion to develop and administer theMinority Depository Institutions Preservation Program, whichpreserves and encourages minority depository institutions requiredby the law.

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The NCUA Board approved the proposed “Minority DepositoryInstitutions Preservation Program Interpretive Ruling and PolicyStatement” and a request for comments from credit unions, tradeassociations, and general public at its open board meeting on July 25. The 60-day comment period endedon Sept. 30.

The NCUA said the program continues to evolve as comments fromstakeholders are reviewed.

Thus far, the report released Friday OMWI has tentatively“adopted minority eligibility criteria for federally insured creditunions, established a process that allows credit unions to identifythemselves as meeting the minority eligibility criteria and drafteda policy statement for preserving and encouraging minorityownership in the credit union industry,” the report said.

“Currently, program technical assistance and training ofminority institutions will be primarily provided by NCUA's Officeof Small Credit Union Initiatives. OMWI will facilitate and ensurethat minority depository institutions receive technical assistance,training, educational programs, and mentoring opportunities,” italso said.

As part of the Community Development Revolving Loan Fundestablished by Congress, the NCUA provided 19 minority creditunions with $94,567.40 in urgent needs grants for 2012. It alsoprovided minority grant awards to 37 credit unions totaling$518,859.93. In addition, one minority credit union received a$300,000 loan and another was given a $10,000 loan.

“The fund makes loans and grants to low-income designated creditunions. Congress established this fund to stimulate economicdevelopment in low-income communities. The funds for grants andloans come from congressional appropriations and loan interest andprincipal repayments,” the report said.

The full text of the report is available online.