OCC Consultations

Key dates

2026-08-12

Federal Register publication of the proposed rule at 91 FR 52114

2026-10-13 Deadline

Comments due on the proposed rule

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to map the proposed changes against current CRA policies, exam procedures, public file practices, and community development grant approval workflows.
• Institutions may wish to assess how the proposed asset-size thresholds would change their CRA category and associated data collection, reporting, and evaluation obligations.
• Banks making grants or donations may wish to review documentation standards for recipient use of funds, overhead limits, and evidentiary support needed for CRA consideration.
• Community development and CRA governance teams may wish to identify which activities would still qualify under the revised CD definitions and performance tests.
• Legal and regulatory affairs functions may wish to prepare comments on the proposed lending focus, grant criteria, sunshine requirements, and technical changes to OCC public welfare and corporate activity rules.
• Banks subject to CRA-related agreements may wish to verify whether the proposed technical amendments would affect disclosure timing, content, or filing processes.

What changed

['The proposal would amend the OCC and FDIC Community Reinvestment Act rules to make substantive, technical, and process-oriented changes aimed at refocusing the statutory objective on meeting community credit needs and reducing burden, particularly for community banks.', 'The agencies propose to better ensure that community development grants reach intended communities and to provide greater clarity on how to obtain CRA consideration for activities.', 'The OCC and FDIC also propose technical changes to their CRA sunshine rules under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, which govern disclosure...

Key dates

2026-08-05

OCC published the proposed rule in the Federal Register (91 FR 50610)

2026-10-05 Deadline

Comment period closes for the proposed rule

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to map which internal records fall into the proposed CSI category and compare current disclosure controls against the new exceptions and safeguard requirements.
• Supervised entities may wish to review any confidentiality agreements and onward-sharing practices to determine whether they would satisfy the proposed conditions for permitted CSI disclosures.
• Legal and FOIA teams may wish to update request-handling workflows for expedited processing requests, fee-waiver appeals, and request tracking once the rule is finalized.
• Banks and other recipients of OCC information may wish to reassess litigation, government-reporting, and interaffiliate sharing procedures to ensure they align with the revised disclosure framework.
• Firms may wish to submit comments by the close of the comment period if the proposed CSI scope, disclosure exceptions, or FOIA procedures would affect their supervisory, legal, or records-management processes.

What changed

The proposal would restructure the OCC’s information-disclosure rules in 12 CFR part 4 and make conforming changes in parts 5, 7, 21, and 163. It would create a new subcategory of non-public OCC information called confidential supervisory information (CSI), clarify when supervised entities and other recipients may disclose CSI without prior OCC approval, and require applicable safeguards and, in some cases, qualifying confidentiality agreements. The OCC also proposes to permit certain disclosures of CSI in limited circumstances to support business efficiency, government accountability, and...

Key dates

2026-08-03

OCC issued Bulletin 2026-37 announcing the proposed rulemaking on availability of OCC information

2026-10-02 Deadline

Comment period closes 60 days after publication, based on the OCC’s stated deadline formula in the related rulemaking notice

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to review current controls for handling nonpublic OCC information and identify where internal policies reference the existing 12 CFR part 4 subparts B and C.
• Firms may wish to assess whether any current or planned disclosures of supervisory materials could fall within the proposed expanded exceptions for business efficiency, government accountability, or supervisory coordination.
• Banks may wish to inventory records that could qualify as aged CSI once the final rule is issued, so they can update retention and disclosure procedures accordingly.
• Legal and compliance functions may wish to monitor the final rule and any comment-driven changes to the proposed FOIA expedited-processing and fee-waiver appeal procedures.
• Institutions may wish to align employee training with the OCC’s clarified position on unauthorized disclosure and potential criminal referral exposure.

What changed

The proposal would amend the OCC’s disclosure framework in 12 CFR 4 by creating a new subcategory of nonpublic OCC information called confidential supervisory information (CSI). It would modify the prior-approval regime for supervised entities that want to disclose CSI by expanding exceptions for business efficiency, government accountability, and supervisory coordination, while adding safeguards around those exceptions. The OCC also proposes to provide for the release of certain aged CSI, which would create a time-based disclosure concept not described in the current rule.

Key dates

2026-08-03

OCC issued the notice of proposed rulemaking

2026-10-05 Deadline

Comments on the proposal are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register

2026-08-05

Federal Register publication date of the proposed rule

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to review current internal controls for handling OCC nonpublic information and map where the proposed CSI category could affect disclosure workflows.
• Firms may wish to assess whether existing information-sharing arrangements with government agencies or service providers would fit within the proposed exceptions and safeguards.
• Teams responsible for FOIA or public records requests may wish to update procedures for expedited processing requests and any related appeal handling.
• Banks and supervised entities may wish to submit comments on operational burden, safeguards, and the practical impact of the proposed disclosure exceptions before the comment deadline.

What changed

The proposal would make structural and substantive changes to the OCC’s disclosure framework in 12 CFR part 4. According to the OCC, it would create a new nonpublic information category called confidential supervisory information (CSI), modify the prior-approval framework for supervised entities that want to disclose CSI, and add tailored exceptions for business efficiency, government accountability, and supervisory coordination, subject to safeguards.

Key dates

2026-07-31

OCC Bulletin 2026-35 issued; interagency proposed CRA rule released

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to map current CRA inventories against the proposed lending-focused retail services framework to identify deposit-service items that could lose CRA consideration.
• Firms may wish to review community development grant and donation controls to determine whether documentation exists to show direct use for a qualifying primary-purpose community development activity.
• Large banks may wish to assess whether recipient overhead data, written commitments, attestations, tax filings, and budget records would be available to support the proposed 15% overhead limitation.
• Banks near the $1 billion and $10 billion thresholds may wish to model whether the proposed size reclassification would change their CRA evaluation approach, reporting obligations, or supervisory expectations.
• Institutions using or considering strategic plans may wish to reassess whether the proposal would make that option more operationally feasible under the revised framework.
• CRA and public-disclosure teams may wish to inventory public file and notice processes to determine whether technology-enabled publication changes would require procedural updates.

What changed

['The proposal would narrow the retail banking services analyzed under CRA to focus on credit services and would exclude deposit services from that component of the evaluation, while giving greater weight to activities with a lending nexus.', 'Community development grants would count only if they are directly used for a plan, project, or initiative with community development as a primary purpose; for large banks, defined as banks with assets over $10 billion, the recipient would also need documented overhead costs not exceeding 15% of the grant amount.', 'The bank-size framework would be...

Key dates

2026-07-31

OCC and FDIC issued the joint proposal amending CRA rules

2026-10-01 Deadline

Approximate comment deadline, calculated as 60 days after the July 31, 2026 publication date if the proposal was published in the Federal Register on the same day as the release

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to review whether current CRA strategies rely materially on deposit services, since the proposal would exclude deposit services from the retail banking services analysis.
• Firms may wish to map all community development grants and donations to identify whether documentation would support that funds are used for the primary purpose of community development and reach the intended assessment areas.
• Banks with assets at or below $10 billion may wish to assess the operational impact of being relieved from data collection, maintenance, and reporting requirements under the proposal.
• Institutions may wish to compare their current CRA performance-test approach against the proposed lending-focused framework and identify activities that could lose or gain CRA consideration.
• Compliance functions may wish to track the Federal Register publication date closely, because the comment window runs for 60 days after publication.

What changed

['The agencies said the proposal would keep the core CRA framework that has generally been in place since 1995, while making substantive, technical, and process-oriented revisions. The proposal follows the agencies’ October 24, 2023 CRA final rules, which were enjoined by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas before they became effective.', 'The proposal would place greater emphasis on lending performance and would narrow the retail banking services considered under CRA to credit services, expressly excluding deposit services from that part of the analysis.', 'The...