Bank Regulators High-Five: No Rule Differences Found
Published Date: 1/15/2026
Notice
Summary
The big banking agencies checked their rules for how banks count money and keep enough cash to stay safe. Good news: they found no big differences in these rules as of September 30, 2025, so banks can keep doing business without confusion. This means no sudden changes or surprises for banks or customers anytime soon!
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Tangible Capital Rule for Savings Associations
Federal law requires savings associations to maintain tangible capital of at least 1.5 percent of total assets, and the OCC and FDIC include a 1.5 percent tangible capital ratio for savings associations in their capital rules. Under the Prompt Corrective Action framework, institutions are considered critically undercapitalized if tangible equity falls below 2 percent of total assets, and the appropriate agency generally must appoint a receiver within 90 days after an institution becomes critically undercapitalized.
Agencies Found No Material Differences
The OCC, the Board, and the FDIC reported that, as of September 30, 2025, they have not identified any material differences in the accounting and capital standards that apply to insured depository institutions. The report says this means banks can continue operating under largely consistent rules and customers should not expect sudden regulatory changes or surprises tied to differences among these agencies.
FDIC Requires Deduction of Examiner-Identified Losses
The FDIC's capital rule explicitly requires FDIC-supervised institutions to deduct examiner-identified losses from common equity tier 1 capital to the extent those losses would have reduced capital if recorded. The OCC and the Board expect institutions they supervise to recognize such losses but do not include the same explicit deduction requirement in their capital rules.
Board Allows Dividends From Related Surplus
The Board's capital rule allows cash dividend payments for certain capital instruments to be paid out of related surplus in addition to net income and retained earnings. The report states this additional language practically affects bank holding companies (BHCs) and savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs) and is not a difference as applied to insured depository institutions.
Different Scope for Enhanced Leverage Ratio
Enhanced supplementary leverage ratio standards adopted beginning January 1, 2018, apply to certain bank holding companies, but the rule text that defines which institutions are in scope differs across agencies. The Board and FDIC apply the enhanced standards based on whether the parent BHC is a global systemically important BHC (G-SIB), while the OCC applies them to institution subsidiaries of a top-tier BHC with more than $700 billion in total assets or more than $10 trillion in assets under custody.
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Key Dates
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