OCC

At a recent congressional hearing, OCC chief Joseph Otting showed just how far he might go in allowing reinvestment credits to lenders.

Verdict on OCC’s supervision of Wells Fargo expected in late spring; TD Bank names Matt Boss its new consumer products chief; CenterState and South State plan $3.2B merger with operations stretching from Virginia to Florida; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

Nonbanks hold a disproportionate percentage of the worst-rated loans, but banks hold a majority of the market, and risk management safeguards are largely untested, according to an interagency report on shared national credit.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he was “comfortable” with a recent speech by Gov. Lael Brainard objecting to significant aspects of the Community Reinvestment Act plan proposed by the OCC and FDIC.

Most stakeholders agree that the Community Reinvestment Act needs to be updated, but a congressional hearing featuring the regulator leading the overhaul effort showed just how contentious the process has become.

The Financial Services Committee will also hold hearings next month on monetary policy, the CFPB and "astroturfing" worries, among other things.

Critics of the OCC have long maintained that the agency was too close with the San Francisco bank. A watchdog's assessment of what transpired between 2009 and 2017 is expected to be completed late this spring.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting upset some House Democrats when he was a no-show at a previous oversight hearing. They will now get a chance to question him about the future of the Community Reinvestment Act.

An outside paper identifies the statutes, regulations and other bureaucratic realities complicating the banking agencies’ efforts to oversee and benefit from rapidly changing technology.

Community development financial institutions could stand to gain from efforts to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act, but they fear the proposal offered by regulators may end up draining their capital.