On October 9, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent delivered remarks at a community bank conference noting the administration’s strategies to promote community banking and financial regulation. Bessent outlined how the administration rolled back regulatory excesses from previous years, including ending reputation risk, proposing to rescind a lengthy CRA rule, and retracting a merger policy statement. The CFPB revamped Section 1071’s reporting requirements, announced it was reconsidering the open banking rule, and withdrew more than 60 interpretive rules and guidance documents. Congress nullified the CFPB’s overdraft rule and prohibited the furnishing of mortgage-related trigger leads. The OCC implemented reforms such as reducing assessments on smaller banks by 30 percent, reversing the plan to merge community bank supervision into large bank supervision, and adopting a more risk-based approach to examinations. Secretary Bessent also addressed the futures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, stressing that any actions must not increase borrowing costs.