The Federal Reserve has lifted the threshold at which bank directors can sit on two boards, in an effort to help smaller banks find qualified directors, it announced on October 2.

The regulatory change means a director can now sit on two unaffiliated bank boards – a process called interlocking – if the institutions individually hold assets of less than $10 billion. Prior to the rule change, there were two thresholds set at $2.5 billion and $1.5 billion.

Two other US regulators, the Federal