Office of the Comptroller of the Currency tailors BSA AML examinations for community banks ends money laundering risk data collection and opens RFI on core service providers

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced supervisory and regulatory steps intended to reduce regulatory burden for community banks, including changes to Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) examination procedures, the end of a longstanding data collection process, and a new request for information (RFI) on community banks’ engagement with core service providers and other essential third-party service providers. The BSA/AML actions include supplementary guidance that tailors the OCC’s application of minimum BSA/AML examination procedures for all community banks based on each bank’s risk profile, rather than relying on minimum procedures that the OCC views as unduly burdensome and of limited benefit given community banks’ generally low money laundering and terrorist financing risk. The OCC also discontinued annual data collection through its Money Laundering Risk system. Separately, the RFI asks for information on barriers community banks face in dealing with core and other essential third-party providers, and on potential OCC actions to address those challenges. The OCC said additional community bank reforms are underway, including a proposal to reduce the community bank leverage ratio requirement that it expects to announce soon.