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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 178 / Friday, September 17, 2021 / Proposed Rules
examination procedures applicable to the June 2020 Rule.
Consideration of performance context.50 With regard to performance context i.e., information about a bank, its community, and its competitors, the OCC stated that it would continue to develop and consider a banks performance context according to the 1995 Rules performance context procedures during CRA evaluations until the OCC develops and implements a system for electronic bank submission of performance context under the June 2020 Rule.51 The OCC has not implemented an electronic system and is still considering performance context as provided in the 1995 Rules.
DOICP.52 The June 2020 Rule added violations of SCRA and the MLA to the list of enumerated credit-related violations considered when assessing a banks CRA performance. The addition of these violations codified existing policy under the 1995 Rules, and, therefore, did not substantively alter requirements for OCC-regulated bank CRA examinations.53
Strategic plans.54 As of October 1, 2020, OCC-regulated banks operating under a strategic plan and those that submitted new strategic plans for approval could create one or more target market assessment areas, as permitted in 12 CFR 25.18g2 of the June 2020
Rule, in addition to the banks assessment areas delineated under 12
CFR 25.41 of the 1995 Rules.55
Activity location.56 The June 2020
Rule provided for the allocation of the dollar value of qualifying activities across multiple assessment areas in 12
CFR 25.24b2. This provision of the June 2020 Rule took effect October 1, 2020.57
Content and availability of the public file.58 As of October 1, 2020, the OCC required OCC-regulated banks to make the public file information 50 12

CFR 25.16.
Bulletin 202099, Community Reinvestment Act: Key Provisions of the June 2020
CRA Rule and Frequently Asked Questions November 9, 2020.
52 12 CFR 25.17.
53 SM 201903, Supervisory Policies and Processes for Community Reinvestment Act Performance Evaluations April 12, 2019, available at https el.occ/news-issuances/memorandums/sm2019-3.pdf.
54 12 CFR 25.18.
55 OCC Bulletin 202099, Community Reinvestment Act: Key Provisions of the June 2020
CRA Rule and Frequently Asked Questions November 9, 2020.
56 12 CFR 25.24.
57 OCC Bulletin 202099, Community Reinvestment Act: Key Provisions of the June 2020
CRA Rule and Frequently Asked Questions November 9, 2020.
58 12 CFR 25.28.
51 OCC

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required by the June 2020 Rule available to the public in a paper or electronic form. The OCC advised that OCCregulated banks could comply with this requirement by making the public file available solely on their websites.59
Public notice by banks.60 The OCC
required OCC-regulated banks to comply with the June 2020 Rules public notice requirements by March 1, 2021. To comply with the public notice requirements, OCC guidance permitted these banks to display the notice in their main office and branch office locations in either paper or an electronic format, such as a digital display. In addition to the requirement for display of the public notice in one of these formats, OCC
guidance also permitted these banks to post the notice on their websites.61
As noted, it is the intention of the OCC that the June 2020 Rule and related guidance will remain in effect until such time as the OCC issues replacement rules associated with this proposal.
In addition to providing guidance on the above provisions that took effect October 1, 2020, the OCC also provided guidance on other issues, including the circumstances under which OCCregulated banks would receive credit for activities outside of their assessment areas, the definition of disaster area a term the June 2020 Rule did not define, and consideration of affiliate activities through April 1, 2022.
In considering these and other issues, the OCC identified areas where the June 2020 Rule would benefit from clarification and revision, some of which the December 2020 NPR
addressed.
While the OCCs June 2020 CRA Rule was an important step in modernizing the CRA regulatory framework, its implementation revealed to the OCC
some of the rules complexities and demonstrated where there were opportunities for improvement. In particular, the partial implementation of the June 2020 Rule and the responses to the December 2020 NPR made clear the extent of the burden and complexities associated with the data collection and reporting integral to the June 2020 Rule.
Moreover, the disproportionate effect of the COVID19 pandemic on minorities and rural and LMI communities provided further evidence of the need to 59 OCC

Bulletin 202099, Community Reinvestment Act: Key Provisions of the June 2020
CRA Rule and Frequently Asked Questions November 9, 2020.
60 12 CFR 25.30.
61 OCC Bulletin 202099, Community Reinvestment Act: Key Provisions of the June 2020
CRA Rule and Frequently Asked Questions November 9, 2020.

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revisit the June 2020 Rule with the goal of better addressing the financial services needs of vulnerable communities coming out of the pandemic.
In addition, through comment letters, stakeholders have identified specific opportunities for improvement of the June 2020 Rule in areas where the rule was not as clear and transparent as intended. For example, stakeholders have stated that the change in the treatment of affiliate activities was not clear because those activities are not mentioned explicitly in the rule. Rather, stakeholders stated that the lack of consideration for affiliate activities under the June 2020 Rule is inferred from the definition of activity, which is a loan, investment, or service by a bank. 62 Stakeholders also said that the rule is not clear on how the OCC would treat qualifying activities outside of banks assessment areas or the broader statewide or regional areas that includes a banks assessment areas for banks that are not evaluated under the general performance standards. A third example of where the June 2020 Rule could benefit from additional clarity involves the CRA desert definition, which as defined in the June 2020 Rule could encompass the vast majority of geographic areas in the country and may be too general to ensure consistent application.
Stakeholder feedback on the lack of clarity with certain aspects of the June 2020 Rule and the OCCs experience with its partial implementation highlight that opportunities exist for improvements to a modernized CRA
regulatory framework. Such improvements could be achieved through a joint rulemaking that leverages these lessons learned as well as the other feedback the Agencies have received since issuance of the June 2020
Rule.
The OCC has reviewed the June 2020
Rule with these considerations in mind.
Based on this review, the OCC proposes to rescind the June 2020 Rule and replace it with rules based on the 1995
Rules subject to a minor change explained below, while simultaneously working with the Board and FDIC on a joint proposal to modernize the CRA
rules.63 Both of these actions are discussed in more detail below.
III. June 2020 Rule Proposed Rescission and Replacement The OCCs initial reconsideration of the June 2020 Rule focused on 1
creating consistency and transparency 62 12

CFR 25.03.
supra note 7.

63 See
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