On December 7, 2020, several bank and credit union trade associations (collectively, the “Associations”) submitted a joint letter (the “Letter”) to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) opposing the...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an interpretive letter (Letter) on July 22, 2020, stating that national banks and federal savings associations have the authority to provide custody services for...more
Despite often operating on a nationwide scale, fintech companies rarely meet the stringent requirements for obtaining a national banking charter. Under the current regulatory landscape, these companies must therefore secure...more
For the first time, a U.S. fintech company is acquiring a regulated U.S. bank, which will give it access to a stable and cheaper source of funding – as well as a national bank charter. On February 18th, LendingClub, one of...more
On February 7, all-mobile banking services startup Varo Money, Inc. (“Varo”) received the FDIC’s approval of its federal deposit insurance application for Varo Bank, N.A. (in formation) (the “Bank”). The FDIC’s approval...more
The Situation: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") has appealed a decision from the Southern District of New York that concluded that the OCC lacks the authority to grant "Fintech Charters" to nondepository...more
In this episode, John ReVeal discusses the background of OCC special purpose charter for FinTechs, including authority and scope. The episode also addresses the concerns and requirements for most FinTechs, including the...more
Given the heavily regulated nature of financial services in the United States, it should not be a surprise that one of the biggest challenges facing the “fintech” industry is regulatory uncertainty. As explained by the...more
For two years the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) solicited comments on how it can support responsible innovation in the financial services industry in order to meet the evolving needs of the consumers,...more
One year ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) decided to move forward with considering applications from financial technology (fintech) companies to become special purpose national banks. In early 2017,...more
A New York federal district court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) challenging the OCC’s authority to grant special purpose national bank (SPNB) charters to nondepository...more
A topic of increasing interest in recent months and weeks has been whether and if fintech companies would seek to obtain a bank charter of some sort. The recent decisions by Social Finance Inc. (SoFi) and Square, Inc. to...more
On March 15, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a “Draft Supplement” to the Comptroller’s Licensing Manual, entitled “Evaluating Charter Applications from Financial Technology Companies” (Supplement)....more