On the same day the comment period closed on the Trump administration’s plan to weaken regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a log of Comptroller Joseph Otting’s previously undisclosed and off-the-books discussions with banking industry executives on OCC’s proposal to gut the CRA regulations. The summaries, which lack detail and substance, were posted to the rulemaking docket after Democracy Forward, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the California Reinvestment Coalition demanded that the administration disclose Comptroller Otting’s ex parte communications with nongovernmental stakeholders.

Although the release of this minimal information is a tiny step forward, by waiting until the close of the comment period and revealing virtually nothing about the information and views conveyed by the bank executives, the Trump administration still denies the public a fair and transparent rulemaking process.

Due to the administration’s release of a call log bereft of substantive information, Democracy Forward, NCRC, and CRC submitted a Freedom of Information Act request with OCC today for a full accounting of Comptroller Otting’s CRA discussions with these executives.