A narrower CRA with new tiers, a lending-test focus and no Fed

The July 31 proposal would let banks up to $1B examine as small banks and reserve full large-bank exams for those over $10B. It refocuses evaluation on lending. The Federal Reserve did not join.

Zovos AI Research
Aug 3, 2026 · 6 min read
CRAExams
<$1B
Small-bank tier
$1–10B
Intermediate tier
>$10B
Full large-bank exams
60 days
Comment window from publication

On July 31 the FDIC and OCC jointly proposed amending their Community Reinvestment Act regulations (FDIC FIL-44-2026 and OCC Bulletin 2026-35). The targeted substantive, technical, and process changes would meaningfully shrink the compliance surface for community institutions. The Federal Reserve, notably, is not a party to the proposal.

The structural change is the asset tiers. Banks under $1 billion would be examined as small banks, up from today’s $412 million cutoff. Banks between $1 billion and $10 billion would be intermediate. Only banks above $10 billion would face the full large-bank examination regime, compared with $1.65 billion today. Institutions at or below $10 billion would also face fewer data collection, maintenance, and reporting requirements.

Where the tiers would land

Proposed CRA examination tiers · by total assets
  1. Small
    Under $1B: streamlined small-bank exam
    The threshold rises from $412M.
  2. Interm.
    $1B–$10B: intermediate exam
    Today the large-bank regime starts above $1.65B.
  3. Large
    Over $10B: full large-bank evaluation
    Data and reporting obligations concentrate here.
FDIC FIL-44-2026 · OCC Bulletin 2026-35 · July 31, 2026

Substantively, the proposal refocuses evaluation on the lending test, tightens community-development grant criteria toward the communities they are meant to benefit, and narrows the retail services considered for CRA credit by excluding deposit services. It is a deliberate turn back toward lending as the core of CRA performance.

Two agencies rewriting CRA without the third is itself the story. A bank’s CRA obligations may soon depend on who its regulator is.

The comment window

Comments are due 60 days after the proposal publishes in the Federal Register. Publication was still pending as this issue went to press, so watch for the date. For most community banks the proposal is relief. The open questions worth commenting on are the transition mechanics, the treatment of in-flight evaluations, and how examiners will weigh lending distribution when the deposit-services lens goes away.

What this means for your bank
  • Locate your tier under the proposal and note what falls away. Keep collecting current-rule data until a final rule says otherwise.
  • If you are Fed-supervised, plan for divergence. Your CRA regime may end up differing from the national banks across the street.
  • Put the comment deadline on the calendar the day the Federal Register publishes. The 60-day clock starts then.
From Zovos AI

Zovos tracks each of your open comment windows against the Federal Register and drafts the letter skeleton the day the clock starts.

Sources
FDIC FIL-44-2026: Joint CRA notice of proposed rulemakingfdic.gov ↗OCC Bulletin 2026-35: CRA proposed ruleocc.gov ↗

This is for information only and is not legal advice. Confirm your obligations against the proposal text and counsel before acting.

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