About the Minority Bank Deposit Program
The beginning
President Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11458 on March 5, 1969, setting up a national program supporting minority businesses.
In response to that executive order, the Department of the Treasury began the Minority Bank Deposit Program later that year.
By the time President Jimmy Carter sent a memorandum to the heads of departments and agencies in April 1977, $86.6 million of government-controlled funds was on deposit in 81 minority banks. President Carter urged all departments and agencies "to make every possible effort to locate deposits under [their] control or administered through [their] agency which [could] be channeled into minority banks."
Read President Carter's 1977 memorandum
The present
Today, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service administers the Minority Bank Deposit Program, by
- verifying eligibility
- offering mentoring to participants
- keeping a list of participating financial institutions
- distributing the list periodically to federal agencies, interested state and local governments, and private sector companies
- reminding participants when it is time to renew their certification
Other relevant historical resources
- President Nixon's Executive Order 11625 (October 13, 1971) – clarifying the role of the Secretary of Commerce in carrying out the national program for supporting minority businesses
- President Carter's Executive Order 12138 (May 18, 1979) – creating a National Women's Business Enterprise Policy
- The Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-86)
- The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-73)