Ranking Member Warren Presses OCC Nominee Gould on Weakening Bank Safeguards, Bank Consolidation, and Conflicts of Interest
“Your record as Chief Counsel at the OCC during the first Trump administration raises concerns that, if confirmed, you may pursue a Wall Street deregulatory agenda, block states from exercising their rights to protect their citizens from predatory practices by national banks, and let large banks off the hook when they violate the law.”
“Your current role representing many national banks – which you would oversee as Comptroller – also raises questions about your ability to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest while at OCC.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Comptroller-Designate Jonathan Gould ahead of his nomination hearing, pressing him on his record of letting large banks off the hook when they violate the law and his conflicts of interest from his work with big banks. In addition, the letter lays out a series of questions from Ranking Member Warren for Gould, including his views on reviewing bank mergers, executive compensation, the OCC’s bank supervisory role, crypto assets, regulatory independence, and more.
“During your tenure as Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel at the OCC, the agency proposed or finalized several major deregulatory rules that weakened safeguards for the largest banks in the country,” wrote Ranking Member Warren.
Ranking Member Warren continued: “Weakening these core banking safeguards in 2017-2020 helped cause the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th largest bank failures in U.S. history in the Spring of 2023, when First Republic, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank collapsed … I am concerned that you may pursue a similar deregulatory agenda as the OCC implemented in the first Trump administration, leaving the national banking system fragile and the economy exposed to another banking collapse.”
Ranking Member Warren also noted her concern about the lax bank merger review that happened under Gould’s tenure at the OCC from 2018-2020, describing the harm to consumers from bank consolidation: “the cost of credit has increased, availability of credit has decreased, branches have been shut down, customer service has deteriorated, and interest paid on deposit accounts has declined.”
Finally, Ranking Member Warren laid out questions about Gould’s potential conflicts of interest: “You have a range of banking sector clients that either currently have, or would reasonably expect to have, regulatory, supervisory, or enforcement business before the OCC. I am concerned you may continue to view these banks as your clients. Your former boss, Comptroller Otting, described national banks as the OCC’s 'customers.'"
The Ranking Member concluded: “The OCC is one of the most important regulatory agencies in government. A failure to execute the agency’s mission could mean economic catastrophe for working families–foreclosures, lost jobs, depleted savings, and economic scars that last generations. I look forward to your responses.”
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