- US lawmakers expressed concern with OCC activity in the cryptocurrency and fintech space.
- They expect to get the response from the head of the Office before December 10.
The US politicians are not happy with the focus the banking regulator is placing on the digital assets industry. Six congressmen criticized the actions taken by the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the digital financial assets space. In a joint letter, authored by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Congressmen Stephen Lynch, and signed by Reps. Jesús G. “Chuy” GarcÃa, Deb Haaland, Barbara Lee, and Ayanna Pressley, they disapproved of the approach taken by the head of OCC, Brian Brooks, the former legal counsel of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
The congressmen pointed out that the head of the Office should not be involved in matters related to the cryptocurrency regulation or stablecoins issuance while the US economy is in a deep crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawmakers wrote:
Arguably, the immediate needs of millions of at-risk individuals who have not yet received an economic stimulus check and/or cannot deposit their funds in a bank deserve greater attention than an effort to increase access to financial services to the “banked community” via mobile phones.
They also mentioned that their concerns are shared by the American Bankers Association and other industry groups, who believe that Brooks take short-sighted decisions and acts unilaterally. His position may negatively affect banking and financial activities outside OCC jurisdiction.
The congressmen forwarded a list of questions to the head of the OCC. The response should be provided before December 10.
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