OCC

The agency has no plans to release general findings from an extensive review of sales practices at large and midsized banks. That's troublesome, and will only fuel the perception that it is too cozy with the institutions it regulates.

The OCC finds widespread problems in bank retail sales practices; Ripple and Swift competition for payments pits technology against convention.

An inquiry into the sales practices of more than 40 banks launched in the wake of the Wells scandal found several systemic issues and hundreds of problems at individual institutions. The OCC completed the review in December but is not making the results public.

Democratic CFTC commissioner Rostin Behnam said Monday that the proposed changes to the proprietary trading ban go too far.

To improve bank oversight, policymakers should eliminate overly complex rules in favor of principles-based regulation.

The agency’s recent bulletin could help banks get back into the small-dollar lending business, keeping needy borrowers out of debt traps. But other regulatory limits remain in focus.

Amid their recent policy victories and record earnings, big banks have also been forced to grapple with the possibility that commercial lending — the lifeblood for large regionals — may never fully come back.

The plan, which the Federal Reserve Board approved Wednesday, would tailor compliance programs for banks based on their trading volume and revise definitions to help banks determine which trades are banned.

The bank sought to evade the consequences of compliance failures including weak scrutiny of transactions that could be tied to North Korea, the N.Y. banking superintendent said in demanding access to communications between the bank and its new supervisor, the OCC.

Just two months ago, Comptroller Joseph Otting seemed to signal that the OCC might be open to letting national banks rent their charters to payday lenders. Now he is clarifying that it won’t happen.

An OCC initiative to get more banks to make short-term loans that rival those of payday lenders isn't enough of an enticement.

More than a dozen lawmakers wrote to the banking agencies Friday, arguing that any regulatory reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act should focus on expanding access to credit.

While industry officials welcomed a bulletin from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency encouraging banks to develop alternatives to payday loans, they are making no commitments to offer such products.

The remarks by the comptroller of the currency came as his agency released a new report on emerging risks in the banking industry.

The NCUA board is considering adding as many as two additional payday alternative loan options for credit unions, and regulators have clarified a rule on severance claims after involuntary credit union liquidations.

Long-awaited modifications to proprietary trading ban are to be unveiled at an open meeting on May 30.

The agency's bulletin opens the door to banks' making more short-term loans to borrowers with lower credit scores — with few parameters beyond "sound underwriting."

Combined with another key change that would give banks more leeway in trading, the revisions on hedging could further blunt the impact of the rule named after a former Fed chairman.

Commenters will have more time to weigh in on the plan, by the Fed and OCC, that has triggered divisions among the federal regulators.

With Congress set to approve a regulatory relief bill and vote on an FDIC chairman, banks will soon see the deregulation they’ve long been anticipating.