On July 31, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it will begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank charters from financial technology companies. This “fintech charter” is limited to institutions that do not accept deposits. The fintech charter was initially unveiled on December 2, 2016, by prior Comptroller … Continue Reading
In the past few years, and particularly in the past few months, cryptocurrencies or digital currencies – most notably bitcoin and ether – have surged in popularity and dominated the financial press and to some degree even the mainstream media. The value of the most famous cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has reached historically high levels. Given the … Continue Reading
On July 5, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a stipulated order to memorialize a settlement with a lead-generation business, Blue Global LLC, and its CEO (Blue Global), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The settlement entails both injunctive relief and an award of more than $104 million in … Continue Reading
Banks’ boards of directors must, among other things, understand the risks associated with existing and planned IT operations, monitor risk management, and work with senior bank managers on strategic technology planning. See the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Examination Handbook InfoBase. Recent changes in the types of attacks perpetrated by cyber criminal groups and … Continue Reading
Fintech is at the forefront of the financial industry. A recent announcement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) shows that this trend will only continue to grow and cements fintech as an important piece to the financial services puzzle in the future. On Oct. 26, the OCC announced it is creating … Continue Reading
Over the past 10 years, advances in technology have changed the way people live their lives. No longer must a person leave her home to purchase clothing, groceries or even a car. The marketplace for retail goods has migrated online, and, it appears, the financial industry is not far behind. Recently, many companies have emerged … Continue Reading