On 2/22/2022, the OCC issued answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the December 2021 final rule to rescind the OCC's Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule issued on June 5, 2020 (June 2020 CRA rule). The December 2021 CRA final rule, which became effective on January 1, 2022, replaced the June 2020 CRA rule with provisions largely based on the rules adopted jointly by the OCC, the FRB, and the FDIC in 1995, as revised.

On 2/14/2022, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu spoke before the National Community Reinvestment Coalition where he announced that the OCC, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC will release a joint CRA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) in the not-too-distant future. This step, according to Hsu, is aimed at strengthening and modernizing the regulation implementing the CRA in order to expand financial access and inclusion for low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities.

On 2/4/2022, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC issued a joint press release that the three federal bank regulatory agencies, together with the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and San Francisco, will host the 2022 National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference on March 15-17.

On 2/2/2022, the OCC issued a bulletin that addresses the OCC’s processes for considering input from state banking commissioners regarding national banks’ performance under state community reinvestment laws, including implementation of community reinvestment-related provisions of the Riegle–Neal Act. The bulletin also addresses expectations regarding the handling of consumer complaints that state officials refer to national banks and federal savings associations, and state referrals of complaints to the OCC.

On 12/16/21, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC issued the 2022 updated asset-size thresholds used to define "small bank" and "intermediate small bank" under their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. Small bank means an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.384 billion. Intermediate small bank means a small institution with assets of at least $346 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.384 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.

On 12/14/21, the OCC issued a final rule on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to rescind the June 2020 rule. In their release, the OCC explained that this is to facilitate the ongoing interagency work to modernize the CRA regulatory framework and promote consistency for all insured depository institutions. The June 2020 rule will be replaced with a rule based on the rules adopted jointly by the Federal banking agencies in 1995, as amended. The OCC explained that these actions are intended to facilitate the ongoing interagency work to modernize the CRA regulatory framework and promote consistency for all insured depository institutions.

In late October of 2021, the OCC issued a set of 25 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) relating to the OCC’s proposal to rescind and replace the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule issued on June 5, 2020 (June 2020 CRA rule). The FAQs provide information on the rulemaking process and the OCC’s consideration of potential CRA issues during any transition from the June 2020 CRA rule to a rule largely based on the rules adopted jointly by the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1995, as revised (1995 rules).

On 7/20/2021, the FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve jointly issued a statement to explain that all three agencies “are committed to working together to jointly strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The agencies have broad authority and responsibility for implementing the CRA. Joint agency action will best achieve a consistent, modernized framework across all banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including low– and moderate-income neighborhoods.”

On 7/20/2021, the OCC announced it plans to propose rescinding the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule issued in May 2020. This rule, which applied only to OCC-regulated institutions, was not released in coordination with the other Federal Regulators and, essentially, would have created different CRA rules for financial institutions, based on each bank’s primary regulator.