Recently the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced its approach toward the country’s fintech sector.
The OCC announced its plans to launch a program named Virtual Office Innovation Hour, under which its members will be offering discussions related to financial technology. The agencies or organizations seeking fintech products and services, information regarding partnership or collaboration with banks, or other significant concerns can reach out to the organization from December 14 to December 15.
An hour meeting would be set up between the applicants and the employees of the organization. The OCC would be responsible for screening the applications and proposals of topics for discussion and will also allot time to the selected applicants. The discussion between the parties would be candid, and transcripts or other such evidential documents would not be released to the public.
Further, the OCC also revealed its plan to set up a separate department, namely the Office of Financial Technology, in 2023. The department, as mentioned earlier, would strive to specialize and deepen the understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape.
Concerning the office of financial technology, the OCC suggested office hours would be one of five methods businesses and individuals will have to connect with the government department directly. The department would also provide listening sessions, fintech symposiums, participation in financial and banking conferences, and public speeches.
As it seems OCC is trying to extend its regulatory approach and authority over fintech firms. Last year, it also repealed the efforts from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to charter non-depository fintech firms.
Michael Hsu, head of the OCC, suggested the need for regulatory standards on stablecoins. At the same time, the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have clashed on the regulation of digital assets. He has also targeted these organizations for dedicating excessive attention to crypto, as reported by Todayq.