On the heels of Thomas Curry’s May 5 exit from his post as chief of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the agency’s next steps for national special-purpose bank charters for financial technology companies have become murkier.
Outgoing comptroller Curry, who was replaced last week by acting comptroller Keith Noreika, introduced a draft charter proposal on March 15, aimed to help fintech companies become nationally chartered banks. Noreika, a former partner with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and before that with Covington & Burling, has represented several big banks in the past, but so far his views on the fintech industry are unknown.
