The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today finalized a rule to revise licensing requirements for community banks and eliminated a system used to monitor national bank compliance with fair housing laws, both as part of a broader effort to reduce the regulatory burden on smaller institutions.
OCC last year proposed the changes as part of a package of community bank regulation reforms. The finalized licensing rule establishes a new definition of “covered community bank or covered community savings association.” Institutions that apply for a license under the definition can expect expedited or reduced filing procedures. The American Bankers Association supported the rule change.
The OCC also eliminated the Fair Housing Home Loan Data System, which was created in 1979 to monitor national bank compliance with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The agency said the regulation is obsolete and largely duplicative of other legal authorities that require national banks to collect and retain certain information on home loan applications.
Both rules will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
