Fintech regulations

Some worry the Senate’s rejection of the OCC rule hampers efforts to clarify legal standards for banks selling loans to fintechs.

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 industry has raised concerns about nontraditional bank owners, and some lawmakers have backed limits for industrial loan companies and cryptocurrency firms. But members of the House and Senate have been unable to reach a consensus on legislation.

Ten companies this week joined the American Fintech Council, which debuted March 3 after the Marketplace Lending Association and Online Lending Policy Institute combined.

Rohit Chopra, President Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has not minced words in calling out private companies for wrongdoing. He could get a grilling from Banking Committee Republicans and some opposition on the Senate floor.

Lost in the debate about whether to make fintechs comply with the Community Reinvestment Act is that many of them already partner with banks to make loans in low-income neighborhoods.

As the bureau writes data-sharing rules, the third-party firms that work with fintechs say oversight by the agency would be more efficient — and better for consumers — than being policed by their bank partners.

The jockeying over who President Biden should appoint to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has focused attention on how to regulate the fintech sector, but the discussion has glossed over flaws in the agency's funding structure that have persisted across administrations.

Several financial tech companies that applied to become national banks are seeking exemptions from many provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act. A consumer advocacy group and the American Bankers Association say the OCC mustn't allow this.

U.S. banks and payment companies are looking to Europe's example to see how open banking can push the market beyond its reliance on credit and debit cards.

U.S. banks and payment companies are looking to Europe's example to see how open banking can push the market beyond its reliance on credit and debit cards.

Brian Brooks may be remembered as one of the most controversial interim regulatory chiefs in recent memory, taking positions on the pandemic response, fintechs’ banking ambitions and other issues that won him supporters and critics alike.

A co-founder of Anchorage Trust Co. said its digital bank, which will not take insured deposits, will enable the company to strengthen partnerships with financial institutions that offer custody services for clients’ cryptocurrency assets.

Several financial tech companies that applied to become national banks are seeking exemptions from many provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act. A consumer advocacy group and the American Bankers Association say the OCC mustn't allow this.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency appears intent on being the federal chartering agency for tech firms with banking ambitions. But some experts say the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is better suited for the job.

New guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows how companies that offer workers early access to their wages can avoid being regulated as lenders. But the incoming Biden administration could add new complications.

A panel appointed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Congress should consider authorizing the bureau — and not the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — to issue federal charters to fintech companies.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors filed a complaint arguing that the unique bid by the San Francisco fintech is "merely a thinly veiled effort" to evade legal challenges to the federal regulator's chartering of nonbanks.

The revamp of the brokered deposits framework offers relief to banks and their partners that saw the prior rule as outdated. Meanwhile, new standards for industrial loan company parents aim to clarify the bank chartering process for fintechs and other nontraditional firms.

Figure Technologies would only accept uninsured deposits, so it would not be subject to Fed or FDIC oversight. A major concern for banks is that the effort could open the door to incursions by bigger tech companies.