SunTrust Banks, Inc. was recently selected by the U. S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to receive $43 million in tax credit allocation authority in the 2013 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program.  The company's subsidiary, SunTrust Community Development Enterprises, was one of 87 recipients receiving awards totaling $3.5 billion.  This is the seventh year SunTrust has been selected as a recipient, with awards totaling $428 millionin allocation authority.

The NMTC Program is designed to attract private-sector capital investment into the nation's urban and rural low-income areas to help finance community development projects, stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

The award will allow SunTrust to continue to make loans and investments with reduced interest rates and/or non-traditional terms and conditions.

"SunTrust is extremely proud of our ongoing success in the New Markets Tax Credit industry, which helps us continue contributing to these positive improvements for low-income communities," said Paul Woodworth, president of SunTrust Community Capital, LLC.   "The program enhances our capabilities as a leading provider of community development financial solutions to clients throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, and helps strengthen our commitment to the communities we serve by aligning perfectly with our purpose of Lighting the Way to Financial Well Being.  In turn, our clients' efforts, supported by this capital investment, help create jobs and provide economic opportunities in areas of severe economic distress." 

The NMTC program, established by Congress in December of 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a credit against federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in investment vehicles known as Community Development Entities (CDEs).  The credit provided to the investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period.  Substantially all of the taxpayer's investment must in turn be used by the CDE to make qualified investments in low-income communities.