[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 117 (Friday, June 20, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26413-26414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11329]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

[Docket ID OCC-2025-0042]


Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice describes Office of the Comptroller of the 
Currency's (OCC) plans to address criminally liable regulatory offenses 
under the recent executive order on Fighting Overcriminalization in 
Federal Regulations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chief Counsel's Office, (202) 649-
5490, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, 
Washington, DC 20219. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay 
services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 9, 2025, the President issued 
Executive Order (``E.O.'') 14294, Fighting Overcriminalization in 
Federal Regulations. 90 FR 20363 (published May 14, 2025). Section 7 of 
E.O. 14294 provides that within 45 days of the order, and in 
consultation with the Attorney General, each agency should publish 
guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to address 
criminally liable regulatory offenses.
    Consistent with that requirement, the OCC advises the public that 
by May 9, 2026, the OCC, in consultation with the Attorney General, 
will provide to the

[[Page 26414]]

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') a report 
containing: (1) a list of all criminal regulatory offenses \1\ 
enforceable by the OCC or the Department of Justice (``DOJ''); and (2) 
for each such criminal regulatory offense, the range of potential 
criminal penalties for a violation and the applicable mens rea standard 
\2\ for the criminal regulatory offense.
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    \1\ ``Criminal regulatory offense'' means a Federal regulation 
that is enforceable by a criminal penalty. E.O. 14294, sec. 3(b).
    \2\ ``Mens rea'' means the state of mind that by law must be 
proven to convict a particular defendant of a particular crime. E.O. 
14294, sec. 3(c).
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    This notice also announces a general policy, subject to appropriate 
exceptions and to the extent consistent with law, that when the OCC is 
deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory 
offenses to DOJ, officers and employees of the OCC should consider, 
among other factors:
     the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused 
by the alleged offense;
     the potential gain to the putative defendant that could 
result from the offense;
     whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, 
expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or 
regulation at issue; and
     evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant's 
general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his 
knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
    This general policy is not intended to, and does not, create any 
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
equity by any party against the United States, its departments, 
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other 
person.

    Date: June 16, 2025.
Patrick T. Tierney,
Assistant Director, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 2025-11329 Filed 6-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P