Regulators seek to provide clarity and transparency on the bank merger review process, but changes may increase application complexity and unpredictability.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

Consistent with ongoing initiatives to strengthen US antitrust regulation,1 the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced changes that may reshape the landscape of bank mergers. These updated rules, policies, and guidelines

The proposal would establish stricter oversight of certain transactions and responds to concerns that large asset managers may be exerting influence on FDIC-supervised institutions.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On July 30, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend the agency’s regulations under the Change in Bank Control Act1 (the Proposal)2. The Proposal would require advance notice to

The proposal seeks to enhance Bank Secrecy Act compliance by aligning the agencies’ AML/CFT program requirements for banks with FinCEN’s requirements.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On July 19, 2024, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the Agencies) issued a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed

OCC-supervised institutions with $100 billion or more in average total consolidated assets must be adequately prepared to mitigate severe financial and non-financial risks.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On July 3, 2024, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a proposal (the Proposal) to revise its enforceable recovery planning guidelines1 (the Guidelines) for certain large insured national banks, insured federal savings associations, and insured federal branches of non-US banks (together

Insured depository institutions with $50 billion to less than $100 billion in average total assets are subject to new resolution reporting standards, with enhanced reporting for those with average total assets of $100 billion or more.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On June 20, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a final rule (the Rule) updating the FDIC’s resolution plan regulations1 for covered insured depository institutions (CIDIs).2 The revisions are

The proposal seeks to make executive compensation arrangements more sensitive to risk and would require complex risk management programs to ensure compliance.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On May 6, 2024, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the agencies) issued a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to curb “excessive risk-taking” resulting from incentive-based compensation arrangements. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not join in the Proposed Rule.[1],[2] Critically, without the FRB’s participation, the Proposed Rule may not be finalized.

The Proposed Rule seeks to curtail incentives for certain financial services sector officers, employees, and directors to take inappropriate risks as a result of seeking excessive compensation, fees, or benefits. It uses a tiered approach based on asset size categories, where covered institutions (defined below) within the two largest asset size categories would be subject to prescriptive requirements related to the structure of their incentive-based compensation arrangements, including incentive award limits, deferral requirements, downward adjustments, forfeitures, and clawbacks.

The Proposed Rule re-proposes the regulatory text previously proposed in June 2016 (with a new preamble that acknowledges developments and supervisory learnings) and seeks additional feedback from commenters on potential alternatives to various provisions.

The Proposal clarifies the FDIC’s bank merger approval process but may prove challenging for new large bank consolidations with the FDIC as the primary regulator.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On March 21, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved Proposed Revisions to its Statement of Policy on Bank Merger Transactions (the Proposal). The Proposal adopts a principles-based approach and aims to update, strengthen, and clarify the FDIC’s

Banking agencies are alleged to have exceeded their congressional authorization, with potentially adverse consequences on banks and consumers.

By Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On February 5, 2024, several banking trade groups[1] (the Plaintiffs) sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the Agencies) in the US District Court for the Northern District

A recent bipartisan bill, if enacted, would particularly benefit small lenders and bank-fintech partnerships by promoting transparency, appellate rights, and examiner accountability.

By Arthur S. Long, Parag Patel, Barrie VanBrackle, Pia Naib, and Deric Behar

On December 14, 2023, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Fair Audits and Inspections for Regulators’ Exams Act (FAIR Exams Act), which seeks to increase transparency in the bank examination process. The proposed legislation would require examining agencies to act quickly and transparently, while creating an independent review and appeals process under the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC),[1] which would allow banks to seek independent review of material examiner findings.

Guidance for the largest US financial institutions is intended to promote climate risk management consistent with general safety and soundness practices.

By Sarah E. Fortt, Betty M. Huber, Arthur S. Long, Pia Naib, Karmpreet (Preeti) Grewal, Austin J. Pierce, and Deric Behar

On October 30, 2023, the three US federal bank regulatory agencies — the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the Agencies) — jointly finalized Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions (the Principles).

The Principles are intended to provide large financial institutions (i.e., those with $100 billion or more in total assets) with a high-level framework for understanding and managing exposures to climate-related financial risks, including physical[1] and transition[2] risks. Such “financial institutions” include national banks and federal thrifts, state member banks, FDIC-insured state nonmember banks and savings associations, bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, intermediate holding companies, branches, agencies and the combined US operations of non-US banking organizations, and any systemically important non-banks that may become supervised by the FRB.