The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have jointly issued an interim final rule to implement the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The rule raises the asset threshold for certain supervised institutions with less than $6 billion in total assets to qualify for an 18-month on-site examination cycle. This change is expected to reduce the regulatory burden on community banks and increase eligibility for the extended examination cycle. The interim final rule also makes parallel changes to the Agencies' regulations governing the on-site examination cycle for U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. The Agencies estimate that the rule will increase the number of banks and savings associations eligible for an extended 18-month examination cycle by approximately 188, bringing the total number of institutions that may qualify to 4,016. Financial institutions with total assets of $3 billion or more but less than $6 billion that are eligible for the 18-month examination cycle will realize cost savings and can utilize those savings in various ways. The Agencies believe that extending the examination cycle from 12 months to 18 months for these small financial institutions with relatively simple risk profiles should not appreciably increase their risk of financial deterioration or failure. The rule is effective immediately, and comments on the rule must be received within 30 days of publication in the Federal Register. Comments can be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, by mail, or by hand delivery/courier. The Agencies will continue to monitor the impact of the extended examination cycle and may make further changes as necessary.