On June 23, 2022, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its Semiannual Risk Perspective (SRP) for spring 2022.  In the SRP, the OCC opines on its current safety and soundness concerns for banks under its regulatory umbrella, focusing on Russia sanctions, climate-related risk, and rising inflation.  Despite these challenges, the OCC believes that “[b]anks’ financial condition remains strong and positioned to deal with the economic headwinds.”… Continue Reading

Tomorrow, October 23, the House Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing entitled “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors.” The scheduled witness will be Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Facebook. There will be a live webcast of the hearing.

As indicated in the Committee Memorandum, Fair Housing is among the topics to be discussed.… Continue Reading

On July 15, the Democratic majority of the House Financial Services Committee introduced draft legislation, titled “Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act,” targeting Libra, Facebook’s contemplated new digital currency. As a follow up, during her July 17 opening statement before testimony from a Facebook executive, Chairwoman Maxine Waters expressed serious concerns about Libra and asked Facebook to put it on hold.… Continue Reading

In this week’s episode, Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin Wiessmann discusses lessons learned from the 2009 financial crisis and concerns arising from today’s market conditions and regulatory environment, shares her views on the OCC’s fintech charter and provides an update on steps that States are taking to relieve regulatory burdens on fintech companies, and explains her agency’s approach to virtual currency.… Continue Reading