The OCC took action to reduce regulatory burden for community banks by limiting the information that supervisors will require or assess during regular bank examinations.

The OCC took action to limit certain bank supervision activities and issued two notices of proposed rulemaking that would reduce data collection and reduce oversight for bank merger applications. We strongly support reducing regulatory burden for community banks. However, the OCC’s threshold for “community banks” for these actions is $30 billion in total assets. This is three times larger than the Federal Reserve’s $10 billion community bank threshold and not at all aligned with the FDIC’s definition of community banks, which includes factors such as lending activity and branch geography.

Only about 70 banks have more than $30 billion in total assets, so the OCC’s actions are actually broad deregulatory changes that will affect nearly every bank in the country, but are being disguised as targeted policies to help for community banks specifically.

The CFPB finalized extension of compliance for its Small Business Lending Rule implementing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which requires that certain financial institutions collect and report to the CFPB certain data regarding applications for credit for women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.

The data collected under the rule will be an essential tool in creating a fairer and more equitable financial system for all Americans, including those who have historically been shut out of the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurship.

The SEC issued an exemptive order relieving market participants from the need to create certain records and maintain some data in the CAT.

The order appears to be a precursor to dismantling the CAT, which would prevent the SEC from being able to oversee the securities markets.

The SEC issued a no-action letter permitting state trust companies to act as custodians for crypto assets. The no-action letter allows entities that are not federally chartered banks and are not allowed to accept deposits to safeguard crypto assets.

The SEC reinstituted a policy that will allow settling defendants to request waivers of the collateral consequences of their settlements at the same time as the SEC considers their settlement offers. Defendants will be more likely to avoid the collateral consequences of their settlements if they are able to obtain waivers of those consequences at the same time as their settlement offers.

Effective September 30, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department will eliminate paper checks and require all federal payments and collections to be conducted electronically, including intragovernmental payments, benefits, vendor payments, and tax refunds.

While Executive Order 14247 indicates that consumers unable to receive electronic payments may request exemptions, accessing those exemptions remains unclear. In addition, the short time between the Trump Administration’s announcement of this change in March 2025 and paper checks ending September 30, 2025 risks leaving vulnerable consumers off guard and unprepared, including older Americans and unbanked Americans who do not have access to electronic/web payment systems.