OCC

The White House said that Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting will serve as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency beginning Jan. 6, after Director Mel Watt’s term ends.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has gotten the ball rolling for financial technology firms trying to operate a national platform, but the FDIC and Federal Reserve should act to remove other policy roadblocks.

An agency report said servicing portfolios have shrunk by nearly half in 10 years as much of the mortgage market has shifted to nonbanks.

The effort to raise the threshold for transactions excused from appraisal requirements responds to concerns that the current threshold is outpaced by real estate prices.

While they won’t be in position to enact legislation, House Democrats could use their newfound power to spotlight issues that Republicans have largely ignored, including the exploding levels of corporate debt.

“We have actually discouraged banks from innovating,” FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said in announcing a move that other agencies have made.

Federal and state regulators are at odds over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s new licensing program, but there are ways to improve current law to appease both sides.

Seven Republican senators urged regulators on Monday to consider additional changes to the Volcker Rule's "covered funds" definition.

The House of Representatives passed two bills that would tie appraisal waivers for Small Business Administration loans to bank rules for commercial real estate loans, despite objections from the Appraisal Institute about its members being cut out of transactions.

The changes mandated by the recent regulatory relief law would narrow the definition of "high-volatility commercial real estate" exposures that get a higher risk weight.

The state's banking regulator and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors are reviving litigation after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it would accept charter applications.

The nation's fifth-largest bank on Monday rolled out a three-month consumer loan that is far less expensive than the typical payday loan. The move comes as regulators are encouraging banks to reach out to the subprime market, which they largely abandoned.

The agencies had proposed revisions designed to make compliance less complex, but banks have expressed concern that the plan could have the opposite effect.

Several states pledged to compensate for a slowdown in enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Mick Mulvaney, but their efforts have been complicated by tight budgets and doubts over whether such initiatives are necessary.

The online small-business lender was aided by loan growth, wider margins and stable credit trends. Its shares surged by 25% after second-quarter earnings were announced.

The OCC has simplified language detailing how fintech charter applicants will clear requirements for meeting community needs. The move has some consumer groups worried.

The federal bank regulators are considering roughly a dozen new rulemakings in response to the bill rolling back certain sections of Dodd-Frank.

Online lenders and other firms await news from OCC and Treasury on the future of their supervision, even as they absorb the news that Square had to temporarily pull its industry loan company application.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s bulletin is seen as just one piece of the regulatory puzzle to coax banks into installment lending.

A senior Treasury department official said it's an "adapt or die" situation for regulators and financial firms in the midst of a growing fintech space.