Bank Watchdog Cautions Local Officials Over Virus Restrictions
(Bloomberg) -- The acting head of the U.S. agency that oversees national banks is warning local governments that restrictions aimed at combating the spread of Covid-19 may be keeping community lenders from doing their part to spur economic recovery.
Brian Brooks, who took the helm at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency late last week, made the comments citing potential harm to the federal banking system in a Monday letter to groups representing governors and mayors.
“Your members should consider these risks carefully and weigh them against the scope and duration of continued lockdown orders in making your decisions,” Brooks wrote. “Certain aspects of these orders potentially threaten the stability and orderly functioning of the financial system the OCC is charged by law to protect.”
He said “more and more cities and states have shown that it is possible to successfully narrow or even end their lockdowns.” He also cautioned against requiring bank customers to wear masks to limit the spread of the coronavirus, saying that could “create the very real risk of increases in bank robberies.”
Brooks has moved quickly since taking the helm at OCC from Joseph Otting. The former Fannie Mae executive, who more recently served as the top lawyer for Coinbase Inc., approved a final rule governing the portability of loan rates during his first day on the job Friday and also declared that lenders shouldn't shut out industries that are deemed unpopular.
While some acting agency heads may hesitate to rock the boat, Brooks was handpicked for the position by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Like his predecessor, he was an executive and board member at OneWest Bank, which Mnuchin owned along with a group of investors before selling to CIT Group Inc.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
