OCC

The banking oversight committees of both chambers of Congress held hearings to investigate and review the cause of the collapse and failure of four regional banks over the past two months, as well as the actions taken by regulators leading up to the collapses and in the aftermath. Both Democrats and Republicans had critical remarks for regulators, though with wildly different expectations. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council named Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu as its chair. Read on for more details. Read on »

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision of a California district court to abstain from enjoining a state action brought by the Riverside County, Calif., district attorney (DA) against national bank Credit One. Credit One claimed the DA unlawfully exercised the National Bank Act and its associated regulations’ “visitorial powers.” The courts disagreed. Read on for more details. Read on »

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu asking the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to apply greater scrutiny to banks that are closing branches in low- and moderate-income areas. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint warning about the risks of using and holding crypto assets. The International Monetary Fund also issued a new paper encouraging member countries to not move too quickly in matters of law and policy surrounding crypto assets. Read on for more details. Read on »

At an event hosted by Brookings Institution entitled “Too big to manage?” Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu stated it might be necessary to break up banks unable to comply with federal law. Hsu said “too-big-to-manage” banks can cause control failures, risk management breakdowns, and negative surprises to occur too frequently. Read on for more details. Read on »

Following months of deliberation and public hearings, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve gave approval for Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank to merge with San Francisco-based Bank of the West despite vocalized concerns from the public regarding potential negative impacts from the merger. Read on for more details. Read on »

In a joint statement from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the three banking regulators sought to highlight some of the major vulnerabilities and risks of the crypto-assets sector which may pose additional risks to banking organizations. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Independent Community Bankers of America and the American Bankers Association called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency and federal banking regulators to align their capital rules to avoid penalizing community banks for supporting local communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Clearing House recently released a research paper that analyzes the legal authority and policy considerations for banks’ engagement in stablecoin-related activities. It primarily examines a series of letters issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which address the legal authority of insured depository institutions to engage in stablecoin-related activities. Read on for more details. Read on »