U.S. Bank Regulatory Hearing: OCC Downplays Citizenship Data Burden, Focuses on Debanking and Compliance Reform

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee held a prudential regulation hearing on Feb. 26, 2026, where the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and National Credit Union Administration outlined reform efforts. Key issues included citizenship verification, politically motivated “debanking” and the $250,000 deposit insurance limit per depositor, per bank.

OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould said on Feb. 26 that the burden of collecting additional citizenship data would be “very small,” though banks warned that retrospective verification would involve millions of accounts. The OCC is investigating debanking complaints involving the nine largest national banks. The Fed’s Michelle Bowman is considering mortgage capital incentives after banks’ share of mortgage originations fell from 60% in 2008 to 35% in 2023, while FDIC Chairman Travis Hill is pursuing deposit insurance reform.