Agencies seek comment on proposed third-party risk management guidance and issue statement on community bank engagement with core service providers

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Official release

Source material from Federal Reserve. The wording below is the issuer’s statement.

Joint Press Release

September 11, 2026

Agencies seek comment on proposed third-party risk management guidance and issue statement on community bank engagement with core service providers

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

National Credit Union Administration

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

For release at 10:00 a.m. EDT

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Today the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) requested comment on proposed guidance to assist financial institutions with managing risks associated with third-party relationships.

The proposed guidance reflects the agencies' supervisory experience and lessons learned from examining financial institutions' third-party risk management practices. It is intended to assist banks and credit unions to better align and tailor their third-party risk management practices to the risks of individual third-party relationships. The proposed guidance focuses on a principles-based approach and, as with all supervisory guidance, is non-binding.

When finalized, the federal bank regulatory agencies plan to rescind existing third-party risk management guidance and replace it with the finalized guidance to promote consistency and prudent innovation in the banking industry.

Comments on the proposed guidance are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Separately, the federal bank regulatory agencies are issuing a statement on community banks' engagement with core service providers. The statement discusses certain factors the agencies will consider in making supervisory and enforcement decisions related to these core providers.

Also today, the Federal Reserve Board separately requested comment on a proposed third-party risk management guide specifically for Federal Reserve-supervised community banks, which is intended to serve as a companion document to the proposed guidance.

Comments: Submit | View

Federal Register notice: Proposed Third-Party Risk Management Guidance: HTML | PDF

Federal Register notice: Proposed Third-Party Risk Management Guide for Traditional Community Banking Organizations: HTML | PDF

Joint Statement on Community Banks’ Engagement with Core Service Providers (PDF)

Board memo (PDF)

Statement by Governor Barr

Statement by Governor Cook

Media Contacts:

FRB

Meg Badenhorst

(202) 452-2955

FDIC

LaJuan Williams-Young

(202) 898-3876

NCUA

Ashley Gordon

(703) 518-6515

OCC

Stephanie Collins

(202) 649-6870

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Last Update:

September 15, 2026

Release text attributed to Federal Reserve. Consult the official publication for any subsequent corrections or updates.