Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, BANKING OPERATIONS—OCC touts actions reducing regulatory burden for community banks, (May 19, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The agency said the actions “reaffirm its commitment to risk-based supervision and tailor its supervisory activities for community banks.”
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reaffirmed its commitment to reducing regulatory burdens for community banks stating in an agency news release that it “continues to prioritize supervisory and regulatory reforms to … support their role as drivers of economic growth.” According to the OCC, “[m]ost community banks are well capitalized and well managed, conduct business in a safe and sound manner, and engage in low-risk activities.”
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould noted “[t]he OCC has taken a range of actions to better tailor its supervision and provide meaningful reforms to community banks so they can continue to drive economic development in their local communities and the broader national economy.” Last month, the OCC, together with the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, finalized revisions to the community bank leverage ratio framework that lowered the minimum leverage ratio requirement and extended the grace period for qualifying community banking organizations that temporarily fall out of compliance (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Apr. 24, 2026). The agencies also issued updated model risk management principles to better align the agencies’ model risk supervision with the size and complexity of institutions (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Apr. 20, 2026). In October 2025, the OCC clarified examination procedures and model risk management requirements based on a bank’s risk profile (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Oct. 7, 2025).
RegulatoryActivity: BankingOperations CommunityDevelopment FinancialStability Loans Mortgages PrudentialRegulation SecuritiesDerivatives