Two key federal government announcements were made on July 31, 2018 related to fintech issues. First, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) issued a press release announcing a report entitled “Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation” (the “Report”). The Report is the fourth and final in a series of reports prepared by Treasury in response to President Trump’s February 2017 Executive Order 13772 (“Executive Order”). In addition, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it would begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank charters from fintech companies that are engaged in the business of banking, but do not take deposits. This alert reviews these important developments.

TREASURY “NONBANK FINANCIALS, FINTECH, AND INNOVATION” REPORT -

In response to the Executive Order, and consistent with other reports in the series, the Report identifies laws, treaties, regulations, guidance, reporting, and record-keeping requirements, as well as other government policies that promote or inhibit federal regulation of the U.S. financial system in a manner consistent with certain core principles enumerated in the Executive Order (the “Core Principles”).