On October 6, 2025, the OCC announced guidance to banks and proposed rulemakings to reduce regulatory burden for community banks. According to the OCC, these actions build upon its continued efforts to tailor its regulatory and supervisory frameworks to minimize burden for its regulated institutions and promote economic growth.
The OCC has issued two bulletins to clarify examination procedures for community banks. First, the OCC is removing fixed examination requirements for community banks and instead tailoring the examination scope and frequency to be consistent with risk-based supervision. Secondly, the OCC will start to only use the core assessment standards in the Community Bank Supervision booklet of the Comptroller’s Handbook to examine for retail nondeposit investment products.
In a third bulletin, the OCC clarified its expectations that community banks should tailor model risk management practices commensurate with the bank’s risk exposures, its business activities, and the complexity and extent of its model use. The OCC is also looking into further measures to improve flexibility and lessen the burden associated with model risk management.
The OCC also proposed rescinding its Fair Housing Home Loan Data System regulation to remove duplicative data collection requirements for national banks, aiming to reduce regulatory burden without impacting necessary data for supervisory activities. Additionally, the OCC suggested broadening eligibility for expedited licensing procedures for community banks to better align requirements with their size and risk profile. These changes are designed to encourage increased corporate activities and transactions by community banks.
Read the OCC’s press release here.