The most likely picks for comptroller of the currency have pushed tech-driven approaches to financial inclusion and anti-money-laundering, and would bring new perspective to regulating cryptocurrencies.
The Senate’s confirmation of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was notably bipartisan. But experts say congressional Republicans are poised to give nominees for the federal banking agencies heavier scrutiny.
It would force national banks to make loans to high-risk industries that often pose dangers to vulnerable communities. The next comptroller of the currency should instead promote equal credit availability for consumers who need it most.
The administration faces a slew of immediate financial policy tasks, such as passing a new round of small-business aid, charting a course for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and filling vacant agency leadership posts.
The OCC had hit James Strother and other executives with civil charges a year ago in connection with the bank's phony-accounts scandal. His monetary penalty is lower than what the agency had first floated.
Issued in the final days of the Trump administration, the regulation has united banks, gun-control advocates and environmentalists in opposition. It could be blocked by Congress or a comptroller chosen by the new president.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized a rulemaking Thursday morning opposed by the industry that forces the largest banks to provide services to gun businesses and other sectors to which banks have curtailed lending.
Brian Brooks may be remembered as one of the most controversial interim regulatory chiefs in recent memory, taking positions on the pandemic response, fintechs’ banking ambitions and other issues that won him supporters and critics alike.
