Bank Regulators Propose Rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act Rules — Again
The OCC and FDIC want to lift the "large bank" line from about $1.6 billion in assets to $10 billion, narrow what counts for CRA credit to lending, and cap the overhead banks can charge against community development grants. Comments close October 13.
The short answer
- The OCC and FDIC published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on August 12, 2026, at 91 FR 52114 — a 105-page document reopening the Community Reinvestment Act rules.
- The proposal would raise the large-bank threshold from the current $1.649 billion in assets to $10 billion, and redefine a small bank as one under $1 billion.
- Banks with $10 billion or less in assets would be exempt from CRA data collection and reporting requirements.
- The definition of retail banking services would narrow to credit services, excluding deposit services, and large banks would face a 15% cap on indirect costs charged against community development grants.
- Public comments are due October 13, 2026.
Federal bank regulators have proposed another rewrite of the rules that govern how banks are graded on serving the communities they take deposits from. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on August 12, 2026. The document runs 105 pages and carries the citation 91 FR 52114. Comments are due October 13, 2026.
The Community Reinvestment Act, first passed in 1977, requires regulators to assess how well a bank meets the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and to weigh that record when the bank applies to merge, acquire or open branches. The mechanics of that assessment — what counts, which banks get examined how closely, what data they must file — are set by regulation, and the regulation has been contested ground for a decade.
What the proposal would change
The most consequential change is arithmetic. Under the current rules, a bank crosses into large-bank CRA treatment at $1.649 billion in assets. The proposal moves that line to $10 billion.
- Small bank: currently under $1.649 billion in assets; proposed at under $1 billion.
- Intermediate bank: currently $412 million to $1.649 billion; proposed at $1 billion to $10 billion.
- Large bank: currently above $1.649 billion; proposed at above $10 billion.
- The agencies also floated an alternative for the small-bank line — aligning it with the Small Business Administration standard of $850 million.
Institutions at or below $10 billion in assets would be exempt from CRA data collection and reporting requirements altogether. That is the burden-reduction half of the proposal, and it is aimed squarely at community banks.
Narrowing what counts
The second half narrows the aperture. The proposal would redefine retail banking services to emphasize credit services and exclude deposit services, on the agencies' stated view that a community's credit needs are best and most directly met through activities that involve lending. In practice that means a bank's branch network and deposit products would carry less weight in a CRA evaluation than the loans it writes.
On community development, the proposal would require grants and donations to benefit communities directly, and would impose a 15% cap on indirect costs for large banks — an attempt to keep grant dollars from being absorbed by administrative overhead rather than reaching intended recipients. The agencies also propose to codify existing guidance on community development activities and to simplify strategic plan procedures.
Why there is a rule to rewrite at all
This is not the first attempt. A 2023 final rule overhauling CRA was enjoined by a federal court before it took effect, which left the industry operating under the older framework while litigation ran. The current proposal is the agencies' effort to replace that framework on narrower ground, with a stated aim of better aligning the rules with the statutory mandate and reducing burden for banks, particularly for community banks.
The chartering backdrop
The proposal lands alongside a broader push at the OCC to make it easier to start a bank. In an August 11, 2026 statement, the agency said it had received 40 de novo charter applications over the preceding 18 months, against an average of fewer than four a year between 2011 and 2014 — and in some years, none at all. The OCC said many charter decisions are now completed within 120 days, and that it recently approved and opened its first full-service national bank in five years. Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said de novo chartering is a sign of a healthy banking system.
What happens next
The comment window closes October 13, 2026. Comments are filed under OCC docket OCC-2026-0694 and FDIC RIN 3064-AG31, and become part of the public record. A proposed rule is not a final rule: the agencies must read the comments, respond to significant ones, and issue a final version, which can differ from the proposal. Given the history here, the final text and any subsequent challenge to it will matter more than the numbers on the page today.
Sources
- Community Reinvestment Act Regulations — joint notice of proposed rulemaking, 91 FR 52114 — Federal Register (OCC and FDIC)
- Agencies Issue Joint Proposal Amending the Community Reinvestment Act Rules — Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- OCC Commends FDIC Reform, Advances Priority to Reinvigorate De Novo Chartering — Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
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