Banks: What Now?

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a bulletin outlining guidelines banking and regulatory institutions should follow in response to potential bank closings due Hurricane Harvey.

The agency highlighted six requirements to consider in the event of a disruption of service: lending, Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), investments, regulatory reporting requirements, publishing requirements, and temporary banking facilities.

Institutions under the supervision of the OCC can receive CRA funding to make various investments in community revitalization or the implementation of services that work to promote the reinvigoration of areas that have been designated disaster areas. Institutions that want to learn more about CRA and ways it can be implemented should review the Q&A here.

Following the OCC’s outlined guidelines are the best way for banks to ensure compliance with limited resources while still serving the financial needs of their customer base, according to the bulletin.

The OCC also released a 22 page bulletin entitled “Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina: Preparing Your Institution for a Catastrophic Event,” which delves into different steps institutions can take to minimize risk and deal with the varying hurdles that natural disasters present in order to recover in a timely manner while helping their community.