Tag Archives: OCC

On Tuesday attorneys general from 48 states and territories aired their concerns about federal overreach in a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, charging that the regulatory agency will sidestep state consumer financial laws and misinterpret the intent of the Dodd-Frank Act if it moves forward with a controversial preemption rule. The letter claimed that existing rules put the OCC in conflict with Dodd-Frank, state consumer financial laws, and past Supreme Court cases.

Members of Congress linked arms with a broad coalition of community and professional associations to call for the reversal of a key provision in the Dodd-Frank Act, which critics charge will upend recovery in the housing markets, close the door on new homebuyers, and force borrowers to shoulder higher costs. The lawmakers and industry groups showed up in force at a press conference organized by the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy, which plans to submit a white paper to authorities as official commentary.

Despite gridlock in the confirmation process for its embattled nominee, news reports put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on schedule to launch formal operations and ready to begin policing Wall Street in July, with or without the director that Senate Republicans vow to obstruct. With its management team and staff already in place, a broad array of powers sanctioned by the Dodd-Frank Act will empower the consumer protection bureau to issue new rules for over 100 banks with more than $10 billion in assets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued a six-month delay for the finalization of rules and regulations in sync with the Dodd-Frank Act, temporarily checking a host of new requirements that analysts fear will distress the derivatives, financial, and mortgage banking markets. The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency fell behind schedule in the lead-up to Dodd-Frank's implementation phase, which goes into effect on July 16 despite that over half of the required 387 provisions need writing.

As officials consider a new candidate to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Obama administration may soon nominate a state and federal banking regulator to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). It's being reported that the administration may put forward Thomas Curry, a current member of the board of directors of the FDIC and a past bank commissioner for Massachusetts, to fill the role of comptroller of the currency.

The top three U.S. banking regulators have issued guidelines that would require comprehensive stress tests every year for lending institutions with assets totaling $10 billion or more. The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed guidance material that would test a bank's capital preparedness and lending ability under national economic duress. The evaluation would also appraise the integrity of the banks' payout plans for shareholders.

The nation's largest association for mortgage bankers has issued a statement praising a last-minute extension of the comment deadline for Dodd-Frank's controversial risk-retention rule and its Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM), which opponents charge will make loans more expensive for homebuyers. The Mortgage Bankers Association says the rule will have a "profound long-term effect" on the mortgage financing industry, which is good reason to give stakeholders more time to understand its full scope.