On November 25, a group of House Republicans published a letter sent to the Fed, OCC and FDIC urging the agencies to reconsider how enhanced prudential standards (EPS) are applied to banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion.
The lawmakers argued that, although Congress made application of EPS to such banks discretionary, current regulations largely subject all banks with $100 billion or more in assets to the same standards as much larger institutions — including, in some cases, those with over $700 billion in assets. The letter noted that this approach imposes uniform requirements on a diverse group of regional and midsize banks that contradicts Congress’s intent to avoid a “one-size-fits-all” regime. The letter encouraged the agencies to review whether their current exercise of discretion in applying EPS to banks in this asset range is appropriate, and to consider a more graduated, risk-based approach that better reflects the actual risk profiles of these institutions.
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