In September of 2022 at the City of St. Louis’ annual Funds Committee meeting, I introduced the Banking for Economic Equity (BEE) Scorecard, which establishes Economic Justice accountability standards for banks that do business with the City of St. Louis. The Funds Committee, made up of the Treasurer, Mayor, and Comptroller, convenes annually to provide an update on the financial investments of the city and approve all banks that will move forward as city depositories for the fiscal year.Â
With a mayoral administration intent on taking a dynamic approach to uplifting the most marginalized areas of St. Louis, the BEE Scorecard is critical and is in direct alignment with the Economic Justice priorities of our city. The BEE Scorecard rates all city depository applicants in five categories: Diversity of the governing board and executive leadership, diversity of mid-level managers and client facing staff, equitable lending, specialized program, and community investment.
Each category is weighted, and the scoring criteria is detailed and outlined in a comprehensive rubric. The first two categories outline what is means to have ongoing commitment to inclusive leadership, representation, and pipeline cultivation for those who have been historically underrepresented in banking leadership due to race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. The equitable lending category measures lending activity by banks and the degree to which banks are supporting loan originations in low-to-moderate income (LMI) census tracts and ground gained in refinancing, small business, and home improvement loans. The last two categories of the scorecard serve to intentionally measure the investments our banking institutions are making directly within the communities they operate in.
Historically, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Report served loosely as the analytical tool used in determining the approval of our city depositories. Banks would submit information on total lending business in the city, encompassing home mortgages, refinancing loans, home improvement loans, and small business loans. That Fund Committee members would review the data by census track to determine how well our banks were performing in ensuring all St. Louisans had access to buy and improve homes.
Knowing that homeownership is a major factor in building generational wealth, the HMDA Report has been helpful, and a good barometer of how lending activity is trending in our region, but as we know, banking institutions can play a significant role in the health of a community. When banks are attentive to the needs of the community they serve, they have the power to be the financial bridges to economic success that our communities need. It is my goal that the BEE Scorecard will serve as a more dynamic and sustainable tool used to both hold our banking institutions accountable to the economic justice priorities of the St. Louis and simultaneously supporting and celebrate the strides our banking partners are making in communities that need it the most, and showing how intentional investment both fortifies our neighborhoods and allows our banking institutions to thrive.
I am excited by the launch of this initiative, and I look forward to the work that still needs to be done to ensure that this tool is the most effective for measuring what we want to see our partners in this work of economic justice. Our next steps are to present the BEE Scorecard and rubric to our bank partners for feedback and to convene a working group of community members, local leaders, and other key stakeholders who will review the language and criteria so that the communities we seek to uplift have a voice in what they believe is important to see. As the Treasurer of the City of St. Louis, I am dedicated to ensuring both the city and its residents are financially healthy as we continue to grow and build the city we know St. Louis can be. I encourage everyone to check out the BEE Scorecard and supporting documents, which are available for the public to view on our website (www.stltreasurer.org) as well as the City of St. Louis website.
Adam Layne serves as the Treasurer for the City of St. Louis after being appointed by Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, the former City Treasurer, in 2021.
