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 …
OCC Releases Initial Findings From Debanking Review
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently shared initial findings from its ongoing review of potential debanking activities at the nine largest national banks it supervises. The review is part of the agency’s effort to implement mandates under Executive Order 14331, which directs “Federal banking regulators,” including the OCC, to remediate past instances, and prevent future acts of, politicized or unlawful debanking. The executive …
DOJ Ends Disparate-Impact Liability Under Title VI, Narrowing Civil Rights Enforcement
On December 9, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a final rule eliminating “disparate-impact” liability from its Title VI regulations. The final rule rescinds portions of DOJ’s Title VI regulations that allowed disparate-impact claims (i.e., challenges to neutral policies with disproportionate effects on protected groups) and aligns DOJ’s enforcement approach with the administration’s broader campaign to curtail disparate-impact liability across federal agencies. This …
Revising Reg B: CFPB Proposes Changes to Disparate Impact, Discouragement and Special Purpose Credit
On Thursday, November 13, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend provisions of Regulation B (12 CFR Part 1002), which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The NPRM proposes to modify Regulation B by: Removing language supporting disparate-impact liability under the ECOA. Narrowing the prohibition on discouragement of applicants or prospective applicants. Establishing new standards …
Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions
Michelle Rogers, partner and chair of Cooley’s financial services enforcement and regulatory practice group, and lawyers Elyse Moyer and Christine Thebaud co-authored an article in Law360 detailing compliance questions and concerns following the US Small Business Administration’s recent instruction to its network of lenders to cease any “politicized or unlawful debanking” actions. Read the article (subscription required)
Federal Banking Regulators Rescind Guidance on Climate-Related Financial Risks
On October 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve (Fed) jointly announced the rescission of guidance intended to mitigate climate-related financial risks at large financial institutions. The October 2023 interagency guidance, “Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions,” had required financial institutions[1] with more than $100 billion in total assets to …