Proposed Third-Party Risk Management Guidance

AGENCY:

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

ACTION:

Proposed interagency guidance and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The OCC, Board, FDIC, and NCUA (collectively, the agencies) invite comments on this proposed third-party risk management guidance. The proposed guidance would reflect the agencies’ supervisory experience and lessons learned through examining banking organizations’ third-party risk management practices. In particular, the proposed guidance would discuss the potential benefits that may accrue when a banking organization aligns its third-party risk management practices in relation to the reasonably assessed risk levels specific to each of its third-party relationships. This approach may assist banking organizations in the prioritization of third-party risk management based on material financial risks, compliance with laws and regulations, and resource allocation. The proposed guidance also would help banking organizations consider potential strategies for tailoring their third-party risk management practices according to the banking organization’s size, complexity, and risk profile, as well as the nature of its third-party relationships. The agencies plan to rescind and replace existing guidance on third-party risk management to promote consistency and innovation in the banking industry.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before November 16, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

OCC: Commenters are encouraged to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Please use the title “Third-Party Risk Management Guidance” to facilitate the organization and distribution of the comments. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal—Regulations.gov: Go to https://regulations.gov/​. Enter Docket ID “OCC-2026-0793” in the search box and click “Search.” Public comments can be submitted via the “Comment” box below the displayed document information or by clicking on the document title and then clicking the “Comment” box on the top-left side of the screen. For help with submitting effective comments, please click on “Commenter’s Checklist.” For assistance with the Regulations.gov site, please call 1-866-498-2945 (toll free) Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, or email regulationshelpdesk@gsa.gov.
• Mail: Chief Counsel’s Office, Attention: Comment Processing, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 1E-216, Washington, DC 20219.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th Street SW, Suite 1E-216, Washington, DC 20219.

Instructions: You must include “OCC” as the agency name and Docket ID “OCC-2026-0793” in your comment. In general, the OCC will enter all comments received into the docket and publish the comments on the Regulations.gov website without change, including any business or personal information provided such as name and address information, email addresses, or phone numbers. Comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.

You may review comments and other related materials that pertain to this action by the following method:

• Viewing Comments Electronically—Regulations.gov: Go to https://regulations.gov/​. Enter Docket ID “OCC-2026-0793” in the search box and click “Search.” Click on the “Dockets” tab and then the document’s title. After clicking the document’s title, click the “Browse All Comments” tab. Comments can be viewed and filtered by clicking on the “Sort By” drop-down on the right side of the screen or the “Refine Comments Results” options on the left side of the screen. Supporting materials can be viewed by clicking on the “Browse Documents” tab. Click on the “Sort By” drop-down on the right side of the screen or the “Refine Results” options on the left side of the screen checking the “Supporting & Related Material” checkbox. For assistance with the Regulations.gov site, please call 1-866-498-2945 (toll free) Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, or email regulationshelpdesk@gsa.gov.

The docket may be viewed after the close of the comment period in the same manner as during the comment period.

Board: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. OP-1881, by any of the following methods:

• Agency Website: https://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​proposals/​. Follow the instructions for submitting comments, including attachments. Preferred Method.
• Mail: Benjamin W. McDonough, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as mailing address.
• Other Means: publiccomments@frb.gov. You must include docket number in the subject line of the message.

Comments received are subject to public disclosure. In general, comments received will be made available on the Board’s website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/​apps/​proposals/​ without change and will not be modified to remove personal or business information including confidential, contact, or other identifying information. Comments should not include any information such as confidential information that would be not appropriate for public disclosure. Public comments may also be viewed electronically or in person in Room M-4365A, 2001 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20551, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. during Federal business weekdays. ( printed page 58537)

FDIC: You may submit comments to the FDIC, identified by ZRIN 3064-ZA58, by any of the following methods:

• Agency Website: https://www.fdic.gov/​federal-register-publications. Follow instructions for submitting comments on the FDIC’s website.
• Email: comments@FDIC.gov. Include ZRIN 3064-ZA58 in the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Jennifer M. Jones, Deputy Executive Secretary, Attention: Comments—ZRIN 3064-ZA58, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the 550 17th Street NW building (located on F Street NW) on business days between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Public Inspection: Comments received, including any personal information provided, may be posted without change to https://www.fdic.gov/​federal-register-publications. Commenters should submit only information they wish to make available publicly. The FDIC may review, redact, or refrain from posting all or any portion of any comment that it may deem to be inappropriate for publication, such as irrelevant or obscene material. The FDIC may post only a single representative example of identical or substantially identical comments, and in such cases will generally identify the number of identical or substantially identical comments represented by the posted example. All comments that have been redacted, as well as those that have not been posted, that contain comments on the merits of this notice will be retained in the public comment file and will be considered as required under all applicable laws. All comments may be accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.

NCUA: Comments may be submitted in one of the following ways. ( Please send comments by one method only):

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. The docket number for this proposed guidance is NCUA-2026-1684. Follow the “Submit a comment” instructions. If you are reading this document on federalregister.gov, you may use the green “SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT” button beneath this rulemaking’s title to submit a comment to the regulations.gov docket. A plain language summary of the proposed guidance is also available on the docket website.
• Mail: Address to Melane Conyers-Ausbrooks, Secretary of the Board, National Credit Union Administration, 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3428.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as mailing address.

Mailed and hand-delivered comments must be received by the close of the comment period.

Public Inspection: Please follow the search instructions on https://www.regulations.gov to view the public comments. Do not include any personally identifiable information (such as name, address, or other contact information) or confidential business information that you do not want publicly disclosed. All comments are public records; they are publicly displayed exactly as received and will not be deleted, modified, or redacted. Comments may be submitted anonymously. If you are unable to access public comments on the internet, you may contact the NCUA for alternative access by calling (703) 518-6540 or emailing OGCMail@ncua.gov.