Bank mergers are getting renewed attention from the Biden administration as a top federal banking regulator on 29 January said his agency planned to close a backdoor through which some deals get approved.

Acting comptroller of the currency Michael Hsu said his office would propose a rule ensuring that the agency has to proactively approve or deny merger applications. Under current rules, a merger is automatically approved if the office doesn’t take action in 15 days after the close of the comment period. The new rule would close that path.