OCC

The perennial effort by state-level lawmakers and regulators to impose their will on national banks risks damaging a well-balanced system that has allowed the U.S. economy to thrive.

At a banking conference this week, there was growing optimism that a key regulatory threshold will be raised from $100 billion to $250 billion.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said in a bulletin to banks that it will consider whether firms engaged in "politicized or unlawful debanking" when considering bank's licensing applications and Community Reinvestment Act reviews.

Online lenders are urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to force banks to disclose all account closures to the agency, following an executive order earlier this month. 

As bank regulators work to create a more transparent and effective supervisory process, they should overhaul the process for appealing their rulings to include challenges to enforcement actions.

The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule that would revert the anti-discrimination framework to its 1995 standards.

The Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated enforcement orders against Industry Bancshares and its subsidiaries. The banks were considered prime examples of interest rate risk management gone awry.

Outgoing Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney Hood said in an interview with American Banker that advances can be made in economic inclusion through race-neutral policies, and he intends to keep up that fight as he leaves the Trump administration.

As we enter one of the banking industry's most extreme cycles of deregulation, we should remember it doesn't always work, especially when supervisory police are reduced and consumer protection guardrails are removed, resulting in a high-speed lane for risk-taking banks and nonbanks.

Jonathan Gould, who's worked in the crypto industry and has advocated for more fintech and crypto-friendly regulation of banks, was confirmed by the Senate Thursday. He is expected to both continue deregulating the banking sector and encouraging bank-fintech partnerships.