Clearinghouse CDFI, a California-based community development finance institution (CDFI) focused on lending in low-income and distressed communities, has become the nation’s first organization of its kind to receive a credit rating from S&P Ratings. The ‘AA’ issuer credit rating indicates that the organization has a “very strong capacity to meet financial commitments,” according to S&P – reflecting a strong financial performance, solid capital structure and minimal losses since its founding in 1996. To date, the organization has funded a total of $1.1 billion in loans, financing 1,570 community development projects that have created or retained more than 12,000 jobs. In 2012, the organization received a NEXT Award for Opportunity Finance – a program designed by MacArthur and launched in 2007 with a $25 million program-related investment that has since been matched by more than $50 million in additional grants and investments. Its specific aim is to boost the scale, innovation and visibility of promising CDFIs like Clearinghouse.
