FDIC, OCC Propose to Narrow Community Reinvestment Act Scope

Posted: Aug 05 2026

The FDIC and OCC have proposed a series of amendments to Community Reinvestment Act regulations to “refocus” on the law’s objective of getting banks to meet the credit needs of their communities, including narrowing the list of qualifying activities for CRA credit to exclude deposit services and certain grants to programs run by nonprofit organizations.

The FDIC, OCC and Federal Reserve last revised CRA regulations in 2023. The American Bankers Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations filed a lawsuit to stop that rule from going into effect, arguing the agencies had overstepped their statutory authority in implementing the rule. The agencies last year proposed rescinding the 2023 rule.

The rulemaking proposed would largely retain the CRA framework in place before the 2023 changes while making “substantive” changes to ensure banks better serve the needs of their communities, the OCC said in a statement. Proposed changes include:

Narrowing the range of retail banking services the agencies consider to focus on credit services, thereby excluding deposit services, and giving greater weight to lending activities;
Limiting consideration of community development grants to those directly used for a plan, project or initiative with community development as a primary purpose;
Requiring banks with assets over $10 billion to document that recipients of community development grants do not have overhead costs in excess of 15%;
Increasing bank asset size thresholds for small banks from $412 million to $1 billion, and for intermediate banks from $1.65 billion to $10 billion.;
Codifying an illustrative list of community development activities that do and do not qualify for CRA credit and providing a process to confirm that activities qualify as community development.

“The proposed rules announced today seek to increase the focus on lending and ensure that community development grants and donations reach the communities they are intended to benefit instead of being diverted to other activities or excessive operating costs,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

To view the proposal, visit: https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2026/nr-ia-2026-64a.pdf