OCC and FDIC Withdrawal from the Interagency Leveraged Lending Guidance Issuances

On December 5, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC” and collectively “the agencies”) rescinded the “Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending” (“2013 Guidance”), dated March 21, 2013, and the “Frequently Asked Questions for Implementing March 2013 Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending” (“2014 FAQs”), dated November 7, 2014.  https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/2025/interagency-statement-occ-and-fdic-withdrawal-interagency-leveraged

Per the issuance:
“The 2013 Guidance and 2014 FAQs were overly restrictive and impeded banks’ application to leveraged lending of the risk management principles that guide their other business decisions. This resulted in a significant drop in leveraged lending market share by regulated banks and significant growth in leveraged lending market share by nonbanks, pushing this type of lending outside of the regulatory perimeter. In addition, the guidance was overly broad and captured certain types of loans that were not intended to be covered, including loans to investment-grade companies.”

In place of these issuances, the announcement stated that banks should look to the agencies’ general principles for prudent risk management of commercial loans and other types of lending to their leveraged lending activities. The announcement further listed general principles intended to support safe and sound lending practices when managing the risks associated with leveraged lending.

AP views this development positively and as consistent with our belief in the important role that BancAlliance members play in serving this segment of our economy.  AP will continue to underwrite and monitor BancAlliance loans in accordance with the relevant BancAlliance credit policies and underwriting guidelines, and will undertake a review of its policies in connection with the update. The agencies stated they will consider issuing additional guidance related to leveraged lending as appropriate and AP will provide relevant updates when available.