On 1/14/21, the OCC issued a final rule to ensure fair access to banking services provided by large national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign bank organizations. In their release, the OCC explains that the rule codifies more than a decade of OCC guidance stating that banks should conduct risk assessment of individual customers, rather than make broad-based decisions affecting whole categories or classes of customers, when provisioning access to services, capital, and credit. The rule applies to the largest banks with more than $100 billion in assets that may exert significant pricing power or influence over sectors of the national economy. Under the rule, banks still determine their product lines and geographic markets and are free to make legitimate business decisions about what and whom to serve. The rule requires covered banks to make those products and services they choose to offer available to all customers in the communities they serve, based on consideration of quantitative, impartial, risk-based standards established by the bank. Under the rule, a covered bank's decision to deny services based on such objective assessment would not violate the bank's obligation to provide fair access. However, a covered bank's decision not to offer a specific kind of financial product or service or not to compete in a geographic market is unaffected.

On 1/12/21, the joint regulators (OCC, Fed, & FDIC) published a proposal in the Federal Register that would require banks to provide their primary federal regulator with prompt notification of any “computer-security incident” that rises to the level of a “notification incident.” The proposed rule would require such notification upon the occurrence of a notification incident as soon as possible and no later than 36 hours after the banking organization believes in good faith that the incident occurred. This notification requirement is intended to serve as an early alert to a banking organization's primary federal regulator and is not intended to provide an assessment of the incident.

On 1/5/2021, the CFPB’s Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law released a report with recommendations on how to improve financial consumer protection. The Taskforce Report uses five interrelated principles that serve as the foundation for proposed systematic changes to the current legal and regulatory framework: consumer protection, information and education, competition and innovation, regulatory modernization and flexibility, and inclusion and access.

In early January of 2020, the OCC issued their annual report to Congress which provides an an overview of the condition of the federal banking system. The annual report can be beneficial to compliance professionals as it discusses the OCC's strategic priorities and details agency regulatory and policy initiatives.

On 12/30/2020, the CFPB approved a compliance assistance sandbox (CAS) order to Synchrony regarding their proposal to develop a “dual-feature credit card. According to the CFPB’s release, the card is designed for consumers with limited/damaged credit history as a tool that can be used to establish/reestablish a favorable credit history.