Fintech regulations

The bureau issued three policies removing the threat of legal liability for approved companies that test new products.

The Upstart Network, the first and only startup to participate in the bureau’s program for promising digital platforms, claims that using nontraditional credit data items has helped loan volume and affordability.

As lawmakers meet this week to discuss artificial intelligence, they should work with regulators to create universal and workable definitions.

Dozens of companies, including Google and PayPal, met with OCC officials last year in part to discuss obtaining a new fintech charter, but many ultimately decided not to pursue it, according to sources. Here's why.

The comptroller, now a year and a half on the job, discusses his attempts to revamp the supervision process for national banks and make the agency run more efficiently.

A recent court decision allowing New York’s financial regulator to proceed in a case meant to block the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from offering fintechs a new federal banking charter is having a chilling effect on potential applicants.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had sought to dismiss the case, but a court ruling suggested that the state regulator’s claim may have merit.

Colin Walsh, Varo’s chief executive, says the disruptor has hired several former regulatory officials to help in what has admittedly been “a difficult process.”

The bureau wants to further remove the threat of legal liability for firms that test products benefiting consumers, but the attorneys general say the agency cannot provide immunity from state law.

Some in the industry worry the Fed may balk at allowing OCC charter recipients into the payments system, but Otting downplayed those concerns.

The agency refuted claims by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors that the OCC was overstepping its authority.

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.

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

Despite being barred from the securities industry by the SEC, LendingClub’s founder has found plenty of people to back his latest venture — and that’s a problem.

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.

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.

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.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., released a survey of lending practices that he said point to practices such as forced arbitration clauses and extracting a customer’s credit score to determine creditworthiness.

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 Trump administration is making more than 80 recommendations to encourage financial innovation within a regulated space, including endorsing the creation of a federal fintech charter.