On 6/29/2020, the OCC released their Spring 2020 edition of the publication Semiannual Risk Perspective. As one would expect, this edition focuses on the key issues facing the federal banking system and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. As noted in their release, highlights from the report include:

On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision related to the structure, and specifically the Director’s authority, of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In their ruling, the courts determined that the current structure - which only allows the single CFPB Director to be removed by the President for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,” - is unconstitutional. Therefore, the ruling has now established that the President can, in fact, remove the CFPB Director at will. That said, the CFPB can continue to operate, but the ruling establishes that the Director must be removable by the President “at will.”

On 6/23/2020, the joint regulators issued interagency examiner guidance for assessing the safety and soundness of financial institutions considering the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on institutions. The guidance states that the purpose is to outline the supervisory principles for assessing the safety and soundness of institutions given the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In assessing an institution under the principles in this document, the joint guidance explains that examiners will consider the institution’s asset size, complexity, and risk profile, as well as the industry and business focus of its customers and that examiners will consider the unique, evolving, and potentially long-term nature of the issues confronting institutions and exercise appropriate flexibility in their supervisory response.