The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) today opened the fiscal year (FY) 2019 application period for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.
The CDFI Bond Guarantee Program responds to the critical market demand for long-term, low-cost capital that can be used to spur economic growth in low-income communities.
Through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, the CDFI Fund enables Qualified Issuers to issue bonds that have maturity dates of up to 29.5 years and are fully guaranteed by the federal government. The Qualified Issuer then sells the bonds to the Federal Financing Bank, a division of the Treasury Department, and uses the bond proceeds to make long-term loans at affordable rates to community development financial institutions (CDFIs).
The CDFIs then finance or refinance new or existing community development projects such as the development of small businesses, commercial real estate, housing units, charter schools, daycare or healthcare centers, and municipal infrastructure. In addition, CDFIs may use the capital to extend credit to other community development borrowers or to refinance existing loans at affordable interest rates.
A total of up to $500 million in bond guarantee authority is available to eligible CDFIs in FY 2019, pending Congressional authorization. Bond issues have a minimum size of $100 million each, up to an aggregate total of $500 million. Multiple CDFIs may pool together in a single $100 million bond issuance provided that each eligible CDFI participates at a minimum of $10 million.
Application Materials
The FY 2019 Notice of Guarantee Availability (NOGA), which was published in the Federal Register today, in addition to some of the required application materials are available on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/bond under the ‘How To Apply’ section by clicking Step 2: Apply.
By November 19, 2018, the CDFI Bond Guarantee Application and Application Instructions will be made available through the CDFI Fund’s Award Management Information System (AMIS).
Please note that there have been no significant changes to the application materials, aside from changing deadlines, since the FY 2018 round.
Deadlines
Please refer to the NOGA and application instructions for detailed information regarding the following application deadlines.
- CDFI Certification Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on December 3, 2018.
- Qualified Issuer Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 19, 2019.
- Guarantee Applications must be submitted through AMIS by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 26, 2019.
- The last day the CDFI Fund will accept questions regarding the FY 2019 application period for the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program is February 12, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. All questions must be submitted electronically to the program office at bgp@cdfi.treas.gov.
Qualified Issuer Applications and Guarantee Applications received in FY 2018 that were neither withdrawn nor declined in FY 2018 will be considered under the FY 2019 authority.
Learn About Applying to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program
Also available on the CDFI Fund’s website are prerecorded presentations from previous rounds of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. These presentations can be found on the CDFI Bond Guarantee webpage at www.cdfifund.gov/bond under the ‘How To Apply’ section by clicking Step 2: Apply.
Conference Call Details
To provide a forum for applicants of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program to ask questions, the CDFI Fund will conduct two one-hour conference calls in December. The calls are not an application workshop or training and no presentation will be given during the calls; only questions from potential applicants will be addressed. Advance registration is not required to attend.
Dates and Times:
Tuesday, December 11, 2018 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST
Thursday, December 13, 2018 from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. EST
Call-In Number: 1-866-556-1099
Participant Passcode: 2598147
The call-in phone number and passcode are the same for both conference calls.
Application Workshop
The CDFI Fund will conduct a two-day application workshop for potential applicants regarding the FY 2019 Qualified Issuer and Guarantee Application requirements. Specifically, the workshop will include an in-depth discussion of the financial structure of the program, including:
- Roles of the Qualified Issuer, Program Administrator, and Servicer;
- Certification, capitalization, and structuring requirements of the Alternative Financing Structure;
- Capital Distribution Plan requirements;
- Eligible CDFI and Secondary Loan Requirements;
- Costs of the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program;
- Review processes for the Qualified Issuer and Guarantee Applications;
- Reporting; and
- Compliance-related activities.
The two-day application workshop will be held in January 2019 in Washington, DC. The CDFI Fund will release information on how to register for the workshop in the near future.
Questions
For more information about the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, please visit www.cdfifund.gov/bond, or email the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk at bgp@cdfi.treas.gov.