Only 86 banks—about 3% of institutions—would face the full Community Reinvestment Act regime under the OCC and FDIC proposal, which raises the small-bank cutoff to $1 billion from $412 million.
The rewrite would shift exams toward lending performance in specific communities and away from branch counts or local deposits, marking the first major CRA regulatory revision attempt since 1995.
Grant rules would also tighten: banks would have to disclose more detail on recipients, and qualifying community-development funding would be narrowed to avoid money going to “activist causes” or high operating costs.
National Community Reinvestment Coalition chief Jesse Van Tol said the changes politicize CRA and could curb grants, especially in rural areas, while banks still lack a joint framework because the Federal Reserve did not join the proposal.
The 1977 anti-redlining law can affect branch openings and mergers through exam results; the proposal now heads to a 60-day comment period after earlier bipartisan rewrite efforts, including Biden-era changes, stalled or were blocked.