FDIC Approves Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Rescind the 2023 Community Reinvestment Act Final Rule

Summary:

On July 15, 2025, the FDIC Board of Directors voted to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to be issued jointly with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), to rescind the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) final rule issued on October 24, 2023 (2023 CRA Final Rule) and replace it with the prior CRA regulations that were originally adopted by the agencies in 1995 (1995 CRA Regulations), with certain technical amendments. 

Statement of Applicability: The contents of, and material referenced in, this FIL apply to all FDIC-supervised financial institutions. The contents of, and material referenced in, this FIL apply to all FDIC-insured financial institutions.

Highlights:

Returning to the regulatory framework established by the 1995 CRA Regulations will provide certainty regarding the applicable CRA requirements.

Because the 2023 CRA Final Rule is subject to legal action and has not taken effect, the agencies continue to apply the 1995 CRA Regulations to banks today. Therefore, returning to the 1995 CRA Regulations allows banks to maintain their current CRA policies and procedures. 

Further, the NPR proposes to update the asset-size thresholds for the definition of “small bank” to reflect the agencies’ annual inflation adjustments for 2025. It also proposes conforming changes to the FDIC’s regulations implementing the CRA Sunshine Requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.

Comments to the NPR are due 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.