In one bulletin, the OCC clarified the examination procedures applicable to these banks, tailoring the procedures based on community banks’ generally low levels of money laundering and terrorist financing risk, the regulator said in a Monday (Nov. 24) press release.
In another bulletin, the OCC reduced the data collection requirements imposed on community banks by discontinuing its Money Laundering Risk (MLR) system data collection, according to the release.
These changes are detailed in the regulator’s bulletins “Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering: Community Bank Minimum Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Procedures” (Bulletin 2025-37) and “Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Discontinuation of Annual Money Laundering Risk System Data Collection” (Bulletin 2025-38).
“Today’s actions further relieve community banks of unnecessary regulatory requirements and seek to better position them to help fuel job creation and economic development in local communities across the country,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said in the release.
These actions join others that the OCC has already taken to reduce the regulatory burden on community banks, the release said.
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The regulator will soon announce a proposal to reduce the community bank leverage ratio requirement, per the release.
Gould said Sept. 10, in remarks to the Financial Stability Oversight Council, that the OCC would focus first on community banks, including the community bank leverage ratio framework, as it tailors regulations to be consistent with the 2018 Economic Growth Act.
He said the OCC was working to revise its examination approaches to community banks for certain areas, including capital, “with an eye to adjusting such approaches to reflect the low risks posed by community banking activities.”
On Oct. 6, when announcing three bulletins regarding community banks, the OCC said it aimed to reduce the regulatory burden on these banks and promote economic growth.
“Today’s actions relieve these banks of regulatory burden and unproductive reporting requirements, so they are better positioned to support their communities and drive economic growth,” Gould said at the time in a press release. “The OCC will continue to tailor our risk-based supervision to focus on material financial risk.”
