Brendan Pedersen

The Treasury Department announced that Michael Hsu, a senior official at the Federal Reserve, would lead the national bank regulator until a Senate-confirmed comptroller is in place.

Critics say the regulation issued by the Office of the Comptroller Currency is a gift to predatory lenders. But the trade organizations warned lawmakers that invalidating it will make it difficult for the agency to create an improved framework in the future.

Organizations representing banks and other financial services firms said implementing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's overhaul of the Community Reinvestment Act could be wasteful as regulators discuss a new interagency plan to modernize the law.

The Biden administration may finally be close to naming an acting comptroller of the currency. Whoever gets the interim job or is confirmed to run the agency over the longer term will have a lengthy to-do list, from Community Reinvestment Act reform to deciding the fate of divisive Trump-era rules.

The Federal Reserve said its regional banks should consider whether nontraditional financial companies meet the requirements of certain federal statutes and present “undue” risk to the financial system before granting access.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to name Michael Hsu, associate director of bank supervision at the Federal Reserve, to be the acting comptroller of the currency, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The FDIC issued a prohibition order against Mark Wong, who was ordered to pay nearly $220,000 in restitution as part of a guilty plea in January.

Democratic senators seek to block the "true lender" regulation, which they say lets national banks sell loans to lenders who then avoid state usury caps. Republicans say overturning the rule would restrict access to credit.

Three months into President Biden’s term, the White House has yet to select a nominee to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or pick an acting chief. That inaction will make it more difficult for Democrats to unwind Trump-era policies, critics say.

Consumer advocates say "income share agreements" like those issued by Blue Ridge Bank of Martinsville, Va., and a Boston CDFI should have to comply with laws that govern more traditional credit products.

With Congress pouring billions into a new grant program and state-based lending initiatives, community development financial institutions say they can move past survival mode to test new products and partner with larger financial institutions.

In a speech, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams zeroed in on the potential for outdated technology to impede the banking industry and even threaten the sector’s resilience.

As Fincen implements an anti-money-laundering law requiring businesses to add their beneficial owners to a new database, bankers worry they'll still be on the hook to provide that information on behalf of customers for some time.

The agency has stepped up efforts to encourage those lacking banking relationships to choose an affordable account option for their pandemic relief funds. It will have to overcome distrust of financial institutions in communities of color.

The agency first sought feedback in February 2020 on how it could update its logo, but the process was suspended two months later amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Justice in the Trump administration hatched a plan to consider reforming its bank-merger review process, raising industry hopes about overhauling the outdated regime. But progressives want the agency to give more thought to the harm bank combinations cause consumers, including further branch closings.

Regulators are likely to scrap the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s divisive rule and instead pursue an interagency framework. But stakeholders commenting on a Federal Reserve draft plan say several aspects of the OCC regulation are worth keeping.

Mehrsa Baradaran, a University of California, Irvine, professor and former banking lawyer, has worked hard to close the racial wealth gap and could further such goals as head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, wrote 34 caucus members in a letter to President Biden.

Former Obama-era regulators Kara Stein and Sarah Bloom Raskin, as well as Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, have joined the field of potential nominees to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to sources familiar with the process.

The agency's plan would strengthen requirements that banks use a minimum amount of their real estate for the business of banking, but three grade groups say banks need flexibility in the pandemic to manage occupancy.