Office of the Comptroller of the Currency - News, Articles & Research

Company announcement/regulation

US Bank hit with multi-million dollar fines over prepaid card programme for the unemployed

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today assessed a $15 million civil money penalty against U.S. Bank, National Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, for violations of law relating to the bank’s administration of a prepaid card program to distribute public unemployment insurance benefit payments.

20 December 2023

News/regulation

OCC warns banks on BNPL lending

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued guidance to US banks warning them to make sure that buy now, pay later loans are offered in a "safe and sound" manner.

08 December 2023

News/people

OCC's former Chief Fintech Officer had CV full of falsehoods - report

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's first chief financial technology officer is no longer in place amid revelations that his CV was riddled with falsehoods, including about his former employment at major banks, according to reports.

24 November 2023

News/people

OCC names chief financial technology officer

US regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has tapped industry veteran Prashant Bhardwaj to lead its new Office of Financial Technology.

03 April 2023

Company announcement/people

OCC names Kristen Baldwin CIO

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced the selection of Kristen Baldwin to be the agency's Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective February 26, 2023.

08 February 2023

News/crypto

US regulators warn banks of crypto exposure risks

US regulators have warned banks to be on their guard against the risks posed by exposure to the crypto asset sector in the wake of the implosion of crypto-exchange FTX and heightened volatility in the market.

04 January 2023

News/regulation

OCC sets up fintech office

US regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is setting up a financial technology unit to help it keep up with the "rapidly changing banking landscape".

28 October 2022

Company announcement/retail

OCC solicits research on implications of fintech for banking

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is soliciting academic-and policy-focused research on the impact of financial technology (fintech) entities and nonbanks on banking and the markets for lending, deposit-taking, and payment services through August 21, 2022.

26 July 2022

News/crime

Bank of America fined $225 million for unlawfully freezing accounts during Covid-19 pandemic

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have fined the Bank of America (BofA) for their deficient disbursement of state unemployment benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic.

15 July 2022

News/regulation

Regulator hits Anchorage Digital over AML failures

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a consent order against digital asset custody services provider Anchorage Digital Bank over Bank Secrecy Act anti-money laundering failures.

22 April 2022

News/regulation

US regulators promise crypto oversight clarity

American banking regulators have put together a roadmap that will see them offer clarity over the next year on a host of areas relating to crypto assets.

24 November 2021

News/regulation

US banks ordered to report cyber incidents within 36 hours

US regulators have approved a new rule that requires banks to report any "significant" computer security incident within 36 hours of discovering it.

19 November 2021

News/crypto

Crypto custodian Anchorage gets national trust charter

Digital asset custody services provider Anchorage has secured conditional approval for a national trust charter from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

15 January 2021

Company announcement/regulation

US bank regulators release paper on operational resilience

Federal bank regulatory agencies today released a paper outlining sound practices designed to help large banks increase operational resilience.

03 November 2020

News/regulation

US politicians weigh response to OCC payments charters

With financial technology firms growing fast and big tech outfits increasingly moving into the FS sector, a senior US politician has warned about the risks of "too-big-to-fail" fintechs.

30 September 2020

News/crypto

OCC gives banks stablecoin guidance

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given federally chartered banks the green light to hold "reserves" on behalf of customers who issue certain stablecoins.

22 September 2020

News/regulation

US regulator signals change to digital banking rules

A US federal banking regulator has called for public feedback on the use of cryptocurrencies ahead of what could be a change in the rules on digital banking.

05 June 2020

News/people

Former Coinbase exec becomes acting Comptroller of the Currency

America's Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting is stepping down, with first deputy and former Coinbase chief legal officer Brian Brooks taking over on an acting basis.

21 May 2020

News/regulation

Regulator tells USAA to fix lax information security

USAA Federal Savings Bank has been slapped with a cease-and-desist order by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for, among other things, an IT programme not in compliance with information security standards.

19 February 2019

Company announcement/regulation

State regulators go back to court over OCC's fintech charter plans

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) today filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

25 October 2018