Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee today, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said that the OCC has aggressive internal timelines for working with the Federal Reserve and FDIC to put forward a joint rulemaking that strengthens and modernizes the Community Reinvestment Act.
“The teams are working very quickly,” Hsu said. We have given internal, kind of aggressive timelines on that, but it is a complicated rule and we want to make sure that we do it right and we will be working with all deliberate speed.” He later added that “we currently have groups that are working pretty much around the clock on coming up with options to strengthen the CRA to make sure that low and moderate-income communities have their needs met.”
Separately, FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams identified inflation, cybersecurity and commercial real estate as key risk factors for banks. “With the new normal and how the pandemic changes the ability of people to work, what does that mean for the bottom line for banks and the commercial properties?” she remarked.