McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC
MONTH-IN-BRIEF (Dec 2021)
[lwptoc]
Banking Law
OCC Releases Final Rule Rescinding 2020 CRA Rule
By Christopher Greenidge, McGlinchey Stafford, PLLC
On December 15, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a final rule that rescinds the June 2020 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule and replaces it with a rule based on the rules that were previously adopted jointly by the federal banking agencies in 1995. The OCC states, in bulletin 2021-61, that this final rule applies to national banks and federal and state savings associations, including community banks, covered by the CRA.
The OCC also highlights in the bulletin that:
- Newly designated large banks (banks that were small banks before the June 2020 CRA rule but are large banks under the final rule) will be provided with one year to comply with the final rule’s data collection, record-keeping, and reporting requirements.
- With respect to the qualifying activities criteria or retail or community development definitions, banks will receive consideration in their CRA examinations for activities in effect at the time the banks conducted the activities or entered into legally binding commitments to conduct the activities, including under the June 2020 rule.
- Bank strategic plans approved before January 1, 2022, will be allowed to remain in effect except for any provisions that are inconsistent with the final.