The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has published its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2026, reporting that the federal banking system entered 2026 with improved earnings, strong balance sheets and manageable credit risk, while highlighting credit, market, operational and compliance risks as the main supervisory themes. Loan growth and lower funding costs supported earnings in 2025, and first quarter 2026 results indicate those trends have generally continued. The report says credit conditions and refinancing risk in parts of commercial real estate lending and private credit markets require ongoing monitoring. It also notes modest increases in past-due loans in some consumer portfolios, although OCC-supervised banks' exposures to weaker-credit borrowers remain manageable. Capital ratios and liquidity are described as high by historical standards. On operational and compliance risk, the OCC points to increasingly sophisticated cybercriminal groups, continued threats from foreign state-sponsored actors, elevated fraud and scams, and the need for banks to understand both the benefits and risks of advanced artificial intelligence tools used for cybersecurity. Geopolitical tensions are also identified as increasing sanctions and money laundering risk, putting pressure on compliance systems and raising the potential for sanctions and Bank Secrecy Act anti-money laundering violations.

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