OCC, FDIC Bar CRA Credit for Bank Donations to Activists
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- OCC and FDIC jointly proposed a rewrite of Community Reinvestment Act rules that ends the practice of banks earning regulatory credit through donations to progressive activist nonprofits; the two agencies oversee roughly $26 trillion in US banking assets.
- Comptroller Jonathan Gould said banks must now prove their actual record of meeting local credit needs directly, rather than "buying regulatory favor through donations to progressive activist nonprofits."
- The proposal singles out the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which a senior Trump official called the "biggest shakedown artist-in-chief" — the group holds a ~$90 million building one block from the White House and pays CEO Jesse Van Tol at least $400,000 annually.
- BMO signed a $40 billion community benefits agreement to clear its $16.3 billion Bank of the West acquisition, and US Bank signed a $100 billion five-year deal to complete its 2021 MUFG Union Bank purchase — both after activist coalitions pushed regulators to block the mergers.
- Under the new rules, large banks must document that grant recipients spend no more than 15% on overhead, and the "small bank" asset threshold rises to $1 billion (from $412 million), while "intermediate bank" rises to $10 billion (from $1.65 billion).
- The Federal Reserve did not sign on to the plan, meaning state-chartered banks in the Fed system will continue operating under the old rules.
Why it matters: The OCC and FDIC oversee roughly $26 trillion in banking assets, and the new rules force major banks to prove direct local lending rather than earning credit through donations to activist nonprofits during merger reviews. Community banks get relief with the small-bank threshold tripling from $412 million to $1 billion, but the Fed's refusal to join leaves state-chartered banks under the old rules.
