On July 31, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed amendments to their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), a Civil Rights-era anti-redlining law. The agencies’ proposal follows a winding regulatory and litigation history to amend CRA regulations. Most recently, the agencies issued final rules amending the CRA in 2023, which subsequently were …
Bank Regulators Push to Roll Back Anti-Redlining Standards
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are expected to propose sweeping changes to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) in the coming weeks – reportedly without the involvement of the Federal Reserve. While not formally confirmed, the OCC and FDIC are set to release a proposal that would raise the threshold for banks subject to …
Agencies Issue Guidance on Lending to Persons Not Authorized to Work in US
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) recently jointly issued guidance reminding supervised financial institutions of their existing credit risk management obligations to borrowers who are not legally authorized to work in the United States (non-work-authorized borrowers). The guidance follows a recent White House executive order directing financial regulators to address risks “posed …
OCC Clarifies NBA Preemption: State Money Transmitter Licenses Not Required for National Banks
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter confirming that the National Bank Act (NBA) preempts state money transmitter licensing requirements as applied to national banks, regardless of whether the bank satisfies a state law exemption from the licensing requirement. The letter affirms settled doctrine in restating the OCC’s position that states are not permitted to require national banks to …
Agencies Propose Customer Identification Program Requirements for Stablecoin Issuers
On June 22, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), together with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement customer identification program (CIP) requirements for permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) under the Guiding …
Agencies Strip Reputation Risk From Interagency Supervisory Guidance
Recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Reserve Board (Federal Reserve) jointly updated 15 supervisory interagency guidance documents by removing references to “reputation risk.” The updated guidance follows other agency actions to remove “reputation risk” from supervisory guidance and examinations and is part of a broader federal effort to eliminate so-called politicized or unlawful debanking. …
White House Issues Executive Orders Targeting Financial System Integrity, Fintech Innovation
On May 19, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled, “Restoring Integrity to America’s Financial System.” The order is designed to mitigate risks to the financial system “posed by the extension of credit or financial services to the inadmissible and removable alien population.” The order stops short of requiring firms to verify each customer’s citizenship status – a controversial move that was reportedly …
Senator Warren Challenges OCC Over Crypto Trust Charters
This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) challenging the agency’s granting of national trust charters to crypto companies “in apparent violation of the National Bank Act.” According to Warren, the nine crypto companies that have received national trust charters since December 2025 …
Agencies and FinCEN Propose Coordinated Changes to AML/CFT Program Requirements
Two separate – but closely coordinated – notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) were published to amend the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for certain financial institutions. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a proposed rule emphasizing effectiveness and outcomes over technical compliance, along with a risk-based approach directing more attention and resources toward higher-risk customers and activities. The same …
OCC Proposes Rule Establishing Regulatory Framework for Issuing Stablecoins
The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the provisions of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Enacted in July 2025, the GENIUS Act establishes a national regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuance and related activities in the United States. The proposed rulemaking would apply only to permitted payment …