Regulators issued a rule that gives banks the OK to dip into capital to help households and businesses cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.
The agencies were up and running Monday but have taken steps to allow employees to work from home.
The OCC and FDIC said banks should consider waiving fees, be flexible with loan repayments and that they would not be penalized if they close branches for precautionary reasons.
State and federal officials committed to providing “appropriate regulatory assistance” to banks whose customers may be hurt by the coronavirus outbreak and said prudent measures would not be subject to criticism by examiners.
Sen. Mark Warner led a group of Democratic senators in calling on bank, credit union and GSE regulators to give detailed instructions on helping consumer and commercial borrowers hurt by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The agencies recommend steps banks should take to proactively prevent disruption of operations, minimize contact between staff and customers, and plan for how affected employees reenter the workplace, among other things.
The banking regulators have announced that they are postponing next week’s National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference because of growing health concerns about the virus outbreak.