Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to Consider Modifications to Community Reinvestment Act Regulations

On February 2, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that within the next 30 days it will publish for public comment an advance notice of proposed rule-making to modify and improve regulations related to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Specifically, Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting said he would like to provide greater simplification and clarity, including clear benchmarks by which to measure the success of financial institutions in meeting their obligations under CRA.

The Treasury Department last year also announced its intention to draft recommendations for improvements to CRA. The Treasury recommendations are likely to come out sometime early this year.