The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has published an overview of supervisory and regulatory changes aimed at reducing burden on community banks. The measures centre on tailoring examinations more closely to a bank’s size, complexity and risk profile, easing use of the community bank leverage ratio, and narrowing model risk, information technology and cybersecurity expectations where appropriate. The release notes that October guidance removed policy-based requirements for certain examination activities, including Community Reinvestment Act performance, fair lending, end-user derivatives and trading, with effect from January 1, 2026. Community Reinvestment Act examination scheduling has been revised to allow discretion based on a bank’s size, risk profile and complexity, and examiner guidance for other areas previously driven by policy is being updated to reflect the agency’s risk-based supervision approach. The OCC also finalized changes to the community bank leverage ratio framework that simplify capital calculations and shorten reporting schedules, with the vast majority of OCC-supervised banks under USD 10 billion in assets able to elect it. Revised model risk management guidance for all OCC-supervised institutions is now explicitly risk-based and non-prescriptive, while models used by community banks are generally excluded, and examiners must use an updated resource to narrow bank information technology and cybersecurity examinations in community banks. The agency said it will continue pursuing reforms to reduce regulatory burden and supervisory overreach.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency2026-05-18
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency outlines community bank burden relief through tailored exams and leverage ratio changes
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency outlined supervisory and regulatory changes to reduce burden on community banks by tailoring examinations to size, complexity and risk, easing use of the community bank leverage ratio, and narrowing model risk, information technology and cybersecurity expectations. The OCC removed certain policy-based examination requirements, revised Community Reinvestment Act examination scheduling to be more risk-based, simplified leverage ratio capital calculations and reporting, and clarified that revised model risk guidance is non-prescriptive and generally excludes community bank models.