Archive

COMMUNITY BANK GUIDE – FINTECH DUE DILIGENCE

On August 27, 2021, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC released a 20-page guide intended to help community banks assess risks when considering relationships with financial technology (fintech) companies. Community banks are entering into business arrangements with fintech companies to offer enhanced products and services to their customers, increase efficiency, and reduce internal costs. The guide is intended to serve as a resource for community banks when performing due diligence on prospective relationships with fintech […]

JOINT AGENCY EFFORT TO IMPROVE CRA

On July 20, 2021, the Federal Reserve Board (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) jointly announced the agencies are committed to working together to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The OCC separately announced it will propose rescinding the CRA final rule issued in May 2020 and is committed to working with the Board and the FDIC to put forward […]

PROPOSED INTERAGENCY GUIDANCE ON THIRD-PARTY RELATIONSHIPS

On July 15, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interagency proposed rule on managing risks associated with third-party relationships. The proposed guidance would: Offer a framework based on sound risk management principles for banking organizations to consider in developing risk management practices for all stages in the life cycle of third-party relationships […]

CRA Asset-Size Threshold

On December 17, 2020 the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank and intermediate small bank under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. At this time the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has not released its updated CRA threshold. Annual adjustments to these asset-size thresholds are based on the change in the average […]

INTERAGENCY STATEMENT – CEASE ORIGINATION OF LIBOR-BASED CONTRACTS

On November 30, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) issued a statement to encourage banks to cease entering into new contracts that use USD LIBOR as a reference rate as soon as practicable and in any event by December 31, 2021, in order to facilitate an orderly—and safe and sound— LIBOR transition.