The blueprint, which comes as the OCC rolls out plans for a new innovation office to oversee fintech efforts, lays out recommendations for outreach, training and technical assistance. The framework offers almost no indication of how regulators might police the industry, morningconsult.com reports.
The OCC has said it plans to publish a paper later in 2016 seeking comment on a potential charter. Several fintech companies are calling for clarity in the form of a limited-purpose charter, and other small companies are partnering with established banks.
The framework is the latest step in the OCC’s handling of fintech following a March 2016 white paper calling for comments on the topic, followed by a forum in June 2016.
The new innovation office will be established in the first months of 2017, which will be headed by acting Chief Innovation Officer Beth Knickerbocker, and it plans to develop an optional pilot programme that would allow banks to tinker with fintech products and services. However, the pilot programme would not exempt institutions from consumer protection laws.
The new office will allow fintech firms and banks to interact with the regulator outside of an enforcement or examination context and is said to provide particular assistance to community banks involved with fintech and spark interactions with consumer groups.
Some of the OCC’s outreach under the framework will focus on banks partnering with fintech firms that need clarity on how third-party risk standards apply to them. The OCC will also lead an “information-sharing group” with other regulators, according to the framework.
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