18 azbankers.org By Chris Bell, Sr. Hotline Advisor and Associate General Counsel OCC Releases Proposal to Rescind CRA Final Rule After a False Start New leadership usually takes us into the future. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is reversing this trend by first taking us into the past for a bit. Seeing the June 5, 2020, final rule to modernize its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) framework (June 2020 Rule) as a false start, the OCC has issued a proposed rule to rescind it in favor of working with the other agencies to develop a new rule. The proposed rule would replace the existing 12 CFR part 25 with a revised 12 CFR part 25 based on the 1995 Rules and reinstate 12 CFR part 195 (for savings associations). The proposed 12 CFR part 25 would be substantively identical to the 1995 rule. All definitions, performance tests and standards, and related data collection, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements would revert to those in place before the OCC issued the June 2020 Rule. Also, the rules surrounding the public file and public notice requirements would revert to those in the 1995 rule. The proposed rule applies to all national banks and all federal and state savings associations. If you would like to comment on any aspect of the proposal, you must submit those before Oct. 29, 2021. The June 2020 Rule would remain in effect until replaced by final rules based on this proposal. The OCC recognizes that banks have relied on the June 2020 Rule to plan for their ongoing compliance with the CRA. Given the partial implementation of the June 2020 Rule, its replacement would change the regulatory framework that impacts, among other things, how examiners evaluate banks and what qualifying activities they would consider in CRA examinations. The OCC proposes a transition to replace certain aspects of the June 2020 Rule, which it summarizes in a chart on Page 38 of the proposed rule (https:// www.occ.gov/news-issuances/federalregister/2021/nr-occ-2021-94a.pdf). Subsequently, as part of the ongoing interagency CRA rulemaking, the OCC would propose a joint revised CRA rule to replace the rules in this proposal. Following publication of any final rules regarding this proposal, banks would have a minimum of 30 days before they would be required to comply with most of the provisions described in the proposed rule. Therefore, the OCC is considering an effective date of Jan. 1, 2022, for any final rules, provided they are published by Dec. 1, 2021. Banks that changed type based on the asset threshold adjustments in the June 2020 Rule are subject to different performance standards for activities conducted on or after Oct. 1, 2020. Also, former "large banks" that became "intermediate banks" under the June 2020 Rule were no longer required to collect data for calendar year 2021 onward and report data for calendar
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