The OCC today proposed changes to its rules for national bank and federal savings association activities and operations to ensure that they can continue to meet the shifting needs of consumers, businesses and communities.
The proposed rule would make a number of changes to update, streamline or clarify existing rules related to permissible derivatives activities for national banks; the ability of national banks and federal thrifts to engage in certain tax equity finance transactions; and national bank and thrift membership in payments systems. It would also address certain corporate governance issues for national banks, financial literacy programs and capital stock issuance and repurchases.
In addition, the OCC released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comments on several issues related to digital technology and innovation. These include, among other things: hurdles to bank innovation; digital banking activities not covered by existing regulations; cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets; distributed ledger technology; artificial intelligence and machine learning; new payments technologies; and challenges faced by smaller institutions with respect to technology. Comments on both documents are due by August 3.
