OCC to establish Office of Financial Technology

Bank Regulatory Federal Issues Fintech OCC Innovation Supervision

On October 27, the OCC announced it intends to establish an Office of Financial Technology early next year that will build on and incorporate the agency’s Office of Innovation (established in 2016 and covered by InfoBytes here). Intended to strengthen the OCC’s expertise and ability to adapt to a rapidly evolving banking landscape, the Office of Financial Technology will provide strategic leadership, vision, and perspective for the agency’s financial technology activities and related supervision. The new office will be led by a chief financial technology officer who will be a deputy comptroller reporting to the senior deputy comptroller for bank supervision policy. “Financial technology is changing rapidly and bank-fintech partnerships are likely to continue growing in number and complexity. To ensure that the federal banking system is safe, sound, and fair today and well into the future, we need to have a deep understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape,” acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said. “The establishment of this office will enable us to be more agile and to promote responsible innovation, consistent with our mission.”