The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, alongside the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, and the National Credit Union Administration, issued an interagency statement setting out supervisory practices and regulatory assistance for financial institutions affected by the California wildfires and straight-line winds. The statement encourages institutions in impacted areas to continue meeting community financial services needs and to work constructively with borrowers. Prudent loan term adjustments in affected areas are supported and should not be subject to examiner criticism, with institutions expected to evaluate modifications under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and report them appropriately in call reports. Regulators also signal flexibility on operational and compliance issues, including expediting approvals to operate temporary facilities when challenges persist, addressing difficulties meeting publishing requirements for branch actions, and taking a non-penal approach to regulatory reporting shortfalls where institutions have taken reasonable and prudent steps but cannot fully comply because of the disaster. The statement also notes potential Community Reinvestment Act consideration for qualifying community development activity in federally designated disaster areas and encourages monitoring of municipal securities and loans affected by the disaster. Institutions experiencing operational, publishing, or reporting difficulties are directed to contact their primary federal or state regulator, with telephone notice generally sufficient initially to begin the temporary facility approval process followed by written notification.

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