OCC outlines bank regulatory overhaul and innovation push in U.S. banking

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Highlights

OCC reports receiving as many de novo bank charter applications in 2025 as in the previous four years combined, signaling recovering new bank formation.
Comptroller Gould announces regulatory changes including risk-based exam reviews, community bank supervision group, and a rollback of fixed examination requirements to reverse the decline in small banks.
OCC expects to finalize the GENIUS Act rule to protect stablecoin users, revised AI risk guidance, and achieved $75 million in cost savings by eliminating 165 outside IT contractors.

Regulatory reset for banks and charters

As stated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould tells the House Financial Services Committee that the agency is rolling back supervisory practices he says reduced diversity in the banking system after the 2008 financial crisis. He says the OCC is replacing fixed examination requirements with reviews tailored to actual risk, setting workday limits on examinations and creating a supervision group focused on community banks.

Gould says those policy changes are intended to address a long decline in smaller institutions. He says the number of banks with less than $1 billion in total assets fell by 50 percent, while new bank formation nearly stopped after 2008. From 1990 to 2008, the OCC received and approved more than 1,000 de novo charter applications, but after 2008 both application volume and approvals dropped by 90 percent.

The agency says activity is now recovering. Gould says the OCC received as many applications in 2025 alone as in the previous four years combined, and that a full-service national bank opened for the first time in five years. He also says the OCC has conditionally approved 10 more banks this year.

Innovation agenda and cost savings

The OCC says it is also reorienting supervision around legal standards for material financial risk and examiner judgment rather than what Gould describes as arbitrary checklists. The agency is reviewing past supervisory criticisms and enforcement actions to align them with its standard for unsafe and unsound practices.

On financial innovation, Gould says the OCC is working through comments on its GENIUS Act proposal and aims to finalize the rule. He says the measure is designed to support consumer protections for stablecoin users and help OCC-regulated institutions meet obligations tied to both deposits and stablecoins.

The agency adds that it has revised model risk management guidance with other federal banking agencies so banks' use of AI is not unnecessarily hindered, and it plans to seek public input on what further guidance may be needed. Gould also says the OCC has cut reliance on outside IT contractors, eliminating the need for 165 contractors and saving $75 million, while preparing this summer to replace technology platforms dating from the early 2000s.

In our earlier coverage of Affirm’s pursuit of a bank charter, we explained how the company is seeking regulatory approval to diversify its funding sources and bring more infrastructure in-house, while saying it does not plan to operate as a traditional bank. The piece also highlighted the expansion of Affirm’s forward-flow funding agreement, lifting lending capacity and reinforcing its growth and liquidity outlook—context that ties into the broader debate over how readily new charters and entrants can emerge under current supervisory standards.

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