OCC Rescinds Biden Bank Merger Rule After Senate Repeal Vote (1)

A key federal banking regulator reversed policy changes it adopted last year requiring tougher reviews of large bank mergers a day after US lawmakers voted to repeal the Biden-era regulation.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Thursday issued an interim final rule that rescinded a policy statement requiring financial stability reviews of any bank merger resulting in a financial institution with $50 billion in assets or more. The September statement of principles from the OCC was part of the Biden administration’s broader antitrust focus.

Thursday’s update also reinstated a decades-old policy mandating automatic OCC approval of proposed mergers ...