Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency

Joseph M. Otting was sworn in as the 31st Comptroller of the Currency on November 27, 2017.  The Comptroller of the Currency is the administrator of the federal banking system and chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC supervises more than 1,200 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks operating in the United States. The mission of the OCC is to ensure that national banks and federal savings associations operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with applicable laws and regulations.  We covered a great deal of other ground. He shares his thinking on how the OCC needs to use technology; on how technology is transforming banks; on top emerging risks, especially in cyber; on the need for banks to use AI in compliance and risk management; and on equipping community banks to compete in today's high-tech market.  He talks about the increasing level of interagency coordination underway today. The US has five federal agencies that directly supervise depository institutions, which makes coordination complex and sometimes slow. I was pleased to hear that just before we recorded this show, he had been at a recurring lunch meeting he has with two other agency heads. The Comptroller also talks about the OCC's innovation initiative, which was one of the first set up by a US regulator. In a prior episode we talked about that program with former Comptroller Tom Curry, who established that unit.