What's New? IRS and OCC Recent Updates!

The IRS and Treasury Department have published guidance and announced plans to issue regulations for “Trump Accounts,” which are a new type of individual retirement account for children created by Congress earlier this year.

 

The OCC and the FDIC are rescinding the “Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending” dated March 21, 2013, and the “Frequently Asked Questions for Implementing March 2013 Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending” dated November 7, 2014. The agencies say they expect banks to manage leveraged lending exposures consistent with general principles for safe and sound lending.

 

The OCC is updating guidance that applies to commercial loans to companies in an early, expansion, or late stage of corporate development. The agency's new bulletin refers to these loans as “venture loans” and provides transparency into the OCC’s supervisory approach and application of existing laws, regulations, and guidance. Specifically, the updated guidance reflects the OCC’s policy of not discouraging banks from engaging in prudent venture lending activities.

 

Stay tuned to the Gold Book as we move closer to the New Year and all its new changes!

What's New? Minimum Wage Increase in New York State

We remind you that the the minimum wage in New York State will increase by an additional 0.50 cents per hour starting January 1, 2026. This adjustment sets the new minimum wage at $17.00 per hour for New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, and $16.00 per hour for the rest of the state. Governor Hochul notes that this increase is intended to help lighten the burdens of inflation and rising costs of living for the lowest earners across the state. This change is part of a multiyear agreement that schedules subsequent annual increases starting in 2027 which are indexed to regional inflation.

For more information visit the NY State website.Save & Close

What's New? OCC Proposes Lowering Capital Requirements for Community Banks: A CBLR Update

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), alongside the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the federal banking agencies), is requesting public comment on a proposed rule aimed at relieving regulatory burden on certain community banks. This proposal amends the existing Community Bank Leverage Ratio (CBLR) framework.

See more on the OCC's bulletin.

What's New? Cost-of-Living Adjusted Limitations for 2026

The IRS published Notice 2025-67 on November 13, 2025, adjusting annual limitations for contributions to retirement plans annd IRAs. Check out our update page in the Gold Book and the IRS news release!

What's New? CFPB proposed changes to Section 1071

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a new proposed rule to substantially revise the 2023 small business lending data collection and reporting rule under Section 1071, aiming to reduce regulatory burden and ensure the long-term success of the data collection regime by initially commencing with a narrower scope. To focus on core lenders and businesses, the proposal raises the covered financial institution origination threshold from 100 to 1,000 transactions, excludes products like merchant cash advances and agricultural lending, and changes the small business gross annual revenue definition from 5 million or less to 1 million or less. Additionally, the CFPB proposes removing discretionary data points, such as pricing information and denial reasons, to focus on statutory requirements, and setting a single compliance date of January 1, 2028, for all institutions above the new threshold.

Stay tuned as the proposed rule progresses through regulatory bodies.

What's New? Two joint notices of rulemaking from the OCC and FDIC

The OCC and FDIC have proposed two joint notices of rulemaking intended to shift supervisory focus primarily onto material financial risks. One of these rules, released October 7, specifically addresses reputation risk by codifying its elimination from supervisory programs. Under this proposed reputation risk rule, examiners would be prohibited from criticizing or taking adverse action against a bank, or encouraging account closures, based solely on a person or entity’s political, social, cultural, or religious views, constitutionally protected speech, or lawful but politically disfavored business activities perceived to present reputation risk. The second proposed rule, also released October 7, establishes a uniform definition for the term “unsafe or unsound practice”. This definition includes a practice that is "contrary to generally accepted standards of prudent operation". Additionally, the practice must be likely to materially harm the financial condition of the bank, present a material risk of loss to the Deposit Insurance Fund, or already have materially harmed the bank’s financial condition. This proposal also revises the issuance framework for Matters Requiring Attention (MRAs), allowing them only for defined unsafe or unsound practices or violations of banking or banking-related laws.

For more details, see OCC bulletins 2025-29 and 2025-30.

What's New? Federal Regulatory Changes Incoming

Federal regulators are driving significant shifts to tailor and modernize supervision, focusing on reducing regulatory burden for community banks by adjusting examination frequency and scope based on risk, and concentrating oversight specifically on material financial risks. In a major joint effort, the OCC and FDIC proposed rules to codify the elimination of reputation risk from their supervisory programs, prohibiting adverse actions against institutions solely based on customers' political, religious views, or lawful but politically disfavored business activities. To enhance regulatory clarity, five agencies—the OCC, FinCEN, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, and NCUA—issued joint FAQs regarding Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) and Bank Secrecy Act reporting; separately, the Federal Reserve released guidance and templates to clarify capital instruments for mutual banking organizations, building on a recent OCC authorization for an innovative mutual capital certificate. Finally, the Federal Reserve plans operational expansion for the Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service to include Sundays and weekday holidays, though implementation is scheduled for 2028 or later.

Stay tuned as developments are finalized!

What's New? Supervision and Regulation Letter 25-4

Yesterday, October 10, 2025, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued Supervision and Regulation (SR) Letter 25-4, with the aim to distribute and introduce Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding suspicious activity report (SAR) requirements. These FAQs serve to clarify existing regulatory obligations for financial institutions concerning SARs, which are deemed a critical tool for combating financial crime. The letter emphasizes that these answers do not alter current Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) legal requirements but aim to assist institutions in compliance and optimizing their reporting resources for law enforcement value.

For more details, see the FAQs here.

What's New? IRS Issues Final Roth Catch-Up Regulations

Starting in 2026, employees earning more than $145,000 in prior year FICA wages are required to make 401(k) and 403(b) catch-up contributions as Roth. This mandate requires extensive payroll coordination and planning in order to administer catch-up and Roth deferrals.

See our section in the Gold Book for more details!

FLSA-2025-02-A: Calculating FMLA Leave Entitlement and Usage

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published opinion letter FLSA-2025-02-A on September 30, 2025, concerning how to calculate the number of hours of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave available to correctional law enforcement employees who work a fixed “Pitman Schedule”.

For more information, visit the DoL site and our subsection in the Gold Book!

FLSA-2025-05: Application of the Overtime Requirements of the FLSA

The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published opinion letter FLSA-2025-05 on September 30, 2025, with the aim to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regarding overtime pay for employees who work for two or more affiliated entities.

For more information, visit the DoL site and our subsection in the Gold Book!

What's new? FDIC update to Formal and Informal Enforcement Actions Manual

On September 8, 2025, the FDIC updated chapter four of its Formal and Informal Enforcement Actions Manual to provide greater discretion in terminating cease-and-desist and consent orders issued under Section 8(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance (FDI) Act. This update applies to all FDIC-supervised financial institutions.

See our subsection in the Gold Book for more details!

What's new? OCC Bulletin 2025-22

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published Bulletin 2025-22 on September 8, 2025, clarifying how it considers "politicized or unlawful debanking" when reviewing bank licensing applications and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance. This approach, consistent with Executive Order 14331, defines such debanking as adversely restricting financial services based on a customer's political or religious beliefs or lawful business activities. The OCC will now evaluate a bank's record of and policies against this practice as part of its holistic, case-by-case review for licensing filings and CRA ratings.

For more information, check out our Gold Book subsection!

What's New? Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act

President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act on September 5, 2025, amending Section 604(c) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b(c)) to prevent consumer reporting agencies from furnishing consumer reports under certain circumstances.

Taking effect 5 March 2026 (180 days following the President’s approval) the bill limits the circumstances in which credit reporting agencies may provide consumer credit reports to third parties in connection with residential mortgage transactions.

For more information, see our subsection in the Gold Book!

What's New? Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans

President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order titled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans” on 7 August 2025.

The order aims to eliminate politically or religiously motivated exclusions from banking services by removing ambiguous risk-based guidance, restoring services to affected consumers, reinforcing regulatory oversight, and crafting a stronger policy framework against debanking.

The order targets “politicized or unlawful debanking”—practices where individuals or businesses are denied banking services due to their political or religious beliefs, or lawful business activities—rather than objective, risk-based analysis.

For more information on implementation, refer to our new section within the Gold Book.

What's New? Expiration of the NY COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law

Effective August 1^st, 2025, the provisions of New York State’s COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law, originally established to provide job-protected, paid time off for employees under a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation will no longer be in effect.

What This Means for You:

• Employees will no longer be eligible for additional paid leave under the COVID-19 law for quarantine or isolation purposes.
• Any illness-related absences, including those due to COVID-19, will be managed under our standard sick leave, PTO, or other applicable leave policies.

Read more in the Covid 19 Relief subchapter of the Decisions and Opinions chapter in The Gold Book. 

What's New? TIN Alternative Collection Methods

On June 27, 2025, the FDIC, OCC, and NCUA, with the concurrence of FINCEN, issued an order granting an exemption from a requirement of the Customer Identification Program (CIP) Rule implementing Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The CIP Rule requires financial institutions to obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) information from its customer before opening an account.

The regulatory order allows financial institutions to use an alternative collection method for obtaining TINs under the CIP rule. Instead of directly collecting the TIN from the customer, institutions can now obtain it from a reliable third-party source. This change aims to reduce friction in account opening and enhance data security, particularly in online banking.

Read more in The Gold Book under Customer Identification Program, (TIN) Alternative Collection Methods.

NYS FAIR Business Practices Act

On June 18, 2025, the New York State Legislature approved the Fostering Affordability and Integrity Through Reasonable Business Practices Act (the “Act”), marking the first major update to the state’s core consumer protection law in 45 years. If signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, the Act will significantly broaden the scope of New York General Business Law § 349 (GBL § 349) by extending liability for not only deceptive practices, but also unfair and abusive business conduct. It will also expand the range of commercial activities covered under the law.

NY/NJ Laws Regulating Wages and Hours

The New York State minimum wage poster was recently updated. 

NYS DOL- Minimum wage.pdf

Read more about minimum wage requirements in the Human Resources chapter of The Gold Book and these additional pages:

Laws Regulating Wages and Hours

Posting Requirements

NY Minimum Wage

NJ Minimum Wage

FTC Publishes COPPA Rule Amendments

The Federal Trade Commission finalized changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule to set new requirements around the collection, use and disclosure of children’s personal information and give parents new tools and protections to help them control what data is provided to third parties about their children. Read more in the Digital Banking chapter of The Gold Book under Children's Online Privacy Act.