Sky Blog
On October 24, 2023, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (together, the “Agencies”) released their final Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions (the …
The retirement security of millions of American workers is increasingly tied to an investment vehicle that most have never heard of, and whose dramatic growth over the last 40 years has received almost no regulatory or academic scrutiny.
With nearly …
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has proposed enforceable guidelines on corporate governance and risk management that would apply to all state non-member banks with assets greater than $10 billion (the Proposed FDIC Guidelines). The proposal was issued over two …
On July 27, 2023, the federal banking agencies released a lengthy proposal to revise the capital rules applicable to large banks and bank holding companies. The headline news is that the banking agencies expect the proposal to increase capital requirements …
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the agencies) are issuing the following statement on crypto-asset1 risks to banking …
On March 29, the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the National Credit Union Administration (the “Federal Agencies”) issued a request for information (“RFI”) …
In my new article, Modernizing the Bank Charter, I take a look at the actual practice of regulators when deciding whether to license a bank – or a fintech – and thereby afford them both the burdens and the …
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) issued an interpretive letter (the Letter) confirming that national banks and federal savings associations (together, banks) may provide cryptocurrency custody services.[1] This Letter is the latest …
On June 4, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a Proposal to update rules applicable to the activities and operations of national banks and Federal savings associations. Comments on the Proposal are due August 3. Simultaneously with …
On July 9, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) …
What do payday lenders, firearms retailers, porn stars, churches, coal mines, and condom companies have in common? All have complained that regulators pressured financial institutions to close their accounts over reputation-risk concerns. In a my article (available here), forthcoming …
On October 30, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) jointly invited comment on a proposed regulation that, if adopted, …
On August 28, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPR”) inviting public comment on ideas for modernizing the regulatory framework for the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (“CRA”).[1]…
On July 31, 2018 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced it will begin accepting applications from non-depository FinTech companies for a special purpose national bank charter. [1] This announcement caps a years-long and much anticipated initiative …
An often-over-looked aspect of regulation is how agencies are organized. Regulatory agencies for many industries, including banking, pharmaceuticals, mining, and agriculture, rely on a mix of centralized decision-making and delegated monitoring. For instance, in the case of banking, federal agencies …
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently took an enforcement action in the form of a consent order against a bank director that serves as a cautionary tale for the banking industry. The consent order, agreed to …
On August 3, the Federal Reserve (Fed) proposed for comment supervisory guidance for boards
of directors of Fed-supervised institutions1 (i.e., Board Effectiveness (BE) guidance). The proposed BE guidance is the result of a multi-year review by the Fed of …
This is the fourth in a series examining the increased regulatory scrutiny on new and innovative financial technologies (“FinTech”).[1]
This update considers the initiatives of two federal regulatory agencies—the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) and …
U.S. regulators, led by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), are starting to examine sales practices at large and mid-size banks. They will likely first focus on whether banks have opened accounts for customers without consent as …
In a September 22, 2016, post on this blog, available here, Professor Wulf Kaal asked in the title to his piece, “What Happens When Technology Is Faster Than the Law?” He noted that while “innovation driven by science and …