A proposal for replacing a current rule implementing the anti-redlining Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) with rules based on those adopted more than 25 years ago, as revised since 1995, is scheduled to be published Friday in the Federal Register.
Comments will be due Oct. 29, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said in its notice.
The notice also states that the proposal would replace the existing rule applicable to both national banks and savings associations with two separate rules, one for national banks and one for savings associations. The action, according to the OCC notice, would effectively rescind the CRA final rule published by the OCC on June 5, 2020. The proposal would, in addition, facilitate the issuance of joint CRA rules with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the notice states.
About a week ago (Sept. 8), the OCC announced it would propose rescinding its CRA rule adopted by the agency in 2020. Earlier this summer – July 20 – the federal banking agencies issued a statement that they planned to work together on a proposal to strengthen and modernize their implementation of rules implementing CRA. The OCC said its reinstatement of the 1995 rules “would allow for an orderly transition to future, modernized CRA rules.”
The latest iteration of the OCC’s CRA rules would replace the June 2020 rule, which was issued by the OCC without the participation of the Fed or the FDIC.
Last week, the OCC also noted that the 2020 rule included a transition provision, effective Oct. 1, to provide for an orderly move to the now-rescinded regulatory framework, and many aspects of the 1995 rules remain in effect. OCC said this aspect limits the potential disruption associated with the proposed reversion to CRA rules based on the 1995 rules.