Warren leads call for regulators to restore disparate impact

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democrat senators sent a letter Wednesday to the NCUA, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency raising concerns about the removal of disparate impact from exams. The NCUA in September 2025 removed references to disparate impact in all materials following an earlier Executive Order from President Donald Trump.

"Credit unions consistently step in where banks refuse to, providing safe, affordable financial services to communities that have been systematically overlooked for decades," said Scott Simpson, president/CEO of America’s Credit Unions. "We share concerns about discriminatory practices, but too often these policies miss the mark and end up punishing the very institutions doing the most to close access gaps. Instead of adding layers of unnecessary burdens that harm the people they intend to protect, policymakers should focus on solutions that actually expand access, streamline processes, and support the organizations, such as credit unions, that are truly serving underserved Americans."

The senators specifically flagged decades of "institutionalized financial discrimination through processes such as redlining" and argued that "removing disparate impact ties examiners’ hands and makes it much harder to uncover discrimination by banks, credit unions, mortgage originators, and other lenders." They urged the regulators to restore disparate impact in examination manuals.

America's Credit Unions has opposed efforts to place Community Reinvestment Act-type requirements on credit unions, as credit unions were not the bad actors CRA and disparate impact regulations were meant to address. Credit unions’ mission and structure mean they are committed to the success of members and communities.

The letter was sent ahead of today's hearing with the prudential regulators in the Senate Banking Committee, of which Warren serves as ranking member.