Takeaways from Rodney Hood’s First Public Speech as OCC Acting Chief
The regulator outlined his top priorities – including financial inclusion, technology, and cybersecurity – while speaking at a conference for community bankers.
Rodney Hood, the new acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, outlined his priorities Tuesday and emphasized his commitment to reducing regulatory burdens on community banks and strengthening the financial system.
While speaking at the American Bankers Association’s Conference for Community Bankers in Phoenix, Hood touched on several topics, including financial inclusion, technology, cybersecurity and compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Hood, the former chair of the National Credit Union Administration, was named acting comptroller this month. President Donald Trump has since tapped OCC vet Jonathan Gould to lead the agency, pending confirmation by the Senate.
Here are the five key takeaways from Hood’s first public appearance as the head of the OCC.
Financial inclusion
Hood noted that 40% of U.S. households cannot obtain a $400 emergency loan and estimated that 70 million people are “credit-invisible.”
“I continue … to believe that financial inclusion is undeniably the civil rights issue of our time,” Hood said.
Hood also highlighted the need to provide wealth management and investment opportunities beyond basic checking and savings accounts to clients.
One size doesn’t fit all
Hood stressed the importance of tailoring regulations to bank size and complexity and advocated for a principles-based approach when fighting cyber fraud. He highlighted ongoing threats from malicious actors and urged banks to implement multifactor authentication while emphasizing the importance of operational risk management based on bank asset size.
Hood said the OCC would offer better clarity and guidance on regulatory frameworks that will contain differences between smaller banks with around $100 million in assets and larger institutions with more than $1 billion. Hood said it’s unfair to think that a $100 million-asset bank should use the same risk weights and level of due diligence as that of a multibillion-dollar bank.
In “my time as acting comptroller” – and not an “inactive” one, Hood said, “I will certainly be going through the rules to make sure that we are looking at appropriate opportunities to reduce regulatory burden by determining what needs to be adjusted, and again, not looking at everything through a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Raising the BSA reporting threshold
Hood said he wants to focus on the OCC’s efforts to police banks’ exposure to bad actors amid the greater use of digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Click here to read more