OCC Touts Progress on New Bank Formation and Reversing the Decline of Community Banks

In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould signaled a significant break from the regulatory posture that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

Mr. Gould argued that Dodd-Frank failed to end "too big to fail" - instead entrenching the largest institutions while creating a "too-small-to-succeed" environment that cut the number of community banks under $1 billion in assets by half. He testified that the OCC is now committed to reversing that trend through risk-based supervision that restores examiner judgment, replacing what he called "arbitrary checklists" with clearer, more consistent standards rooted in law.

Mr. Gould pointed to concrete signs of progress on new bank formation, telling the Committee the agency received as many charter applications in 2025 alone as it did in the prior four years combined, with 10 conditional approvals granted and the first new full-service national bank opening in five years. 

Mr. Gould also told lawmakers the OCC is actively working to finalize its GENIUS Act stablecoin proposal, a framework that, he said, brings order and consumer protection to an otherwise unruly market. On artificial intelligence, he noted the agency joined other federal regulators in revising model risk management guidance to avoid inadvertently discouraging AI adoption in banking, with more public guidance expected.

Mr. Gould also confirmed the OCC is investigating complaints of alleged debanking (denial of services based on political or religious beliefs or lawful business activity) and committed to reporting findings publicly. He highlighted internal reforms, including the elimination of 165 outside contractors saving $75 million and a planned overhaul of the agency's decades-old IT infrastructure.