Brian Brooks just defended a fintech charter to the HFSC (House Financial Services Committee). He defended this fintech charter he controlled when heading OCC and warns that high cryptocurrency regulations can undermine the competitiveness of the US globally.
How Brian Brooks Defends the Fintech Charter at the HFSC
On Thursday, Brian Brooks had defended the fintech charter when he acted as the acting Currency Comptroller after the Congressional Democrats had sights at the housing license. Brooks showed as the witness for the (HFSC) on the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions in a hearing termed “Banking Innovation or Regulatory Evasion? Exploring Trends in Financial Institution Charters” on April 15 2021.
This fintech charter is launched by the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), and in 2020 was headed by Brooks, permitting financial technology companies like crypto firms to provide payment and lending products devoid of supervision by FDIC Insurance, banking regulators, or customer’s deposit.
In another vein, Maxine Waters, the Californian Rep and chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has alleged that state and banks regulators have already complained of the absence of regulatory investigation witnessed by fintech companies that are licensed under this charter. Waters explicitly stated that the community banks, state regulators, and even the credit unions have spoken out about the way new entities, like the big tech companies, are getting unconventional charters from the bank and providing bank services and products while avoiding regulations banks should comply with.
OCC Have Overstepped its Authority- Maxine Waters
The Californian representative maintained that the OCC had overstepped its power or authority; she accused the entity of pretending that the Abraham Lincoln signed laws were aimed to establish fintech or crypto charters. Meanwhile, Brian Brooks has revealed to the committee that the charter had strengthened the crypto and fintech industries regulatory oversight, insisting that the activities will conversely continue the regulators view outside. More so, he saw the charter as an empowering company that offers customers better options to conventional banks on the one hand and the other hand with the strip-mall financiers.
In the meantime, other Democrats have spoken out that Bitcoin is a pathway for some criminal syndicate, with Californian based Brad Sherman maintaining that the narco-terrorist and tax evaders mostly utilize the cryptocurrency asset. Al Green from Texas equally advanced Sherman’s claims; he said that it is the concern of his constituents to regard the Ponzi schemes prevalence in the cryptocurrency industry.
However, Brooks has dismissed the claims, insisting that exclusionary regulations can hinder the US dynamism in technology. The high legislations can significantly undermine the soft power of the US in the rising digital economy. For Brooks, they are setting up a second internet; it is not created for terrorist financing but for permitting a real decentralized Internet. When you think that the soft power of the US globally has many in common with the control of the Internet Protocol and ICANN, you will feel related about the new protocol.
