Hunting Magazine
The OCC spent recent weeks going through thousands of comments it received on the proposal, most of them from gun enthusiasts applauding the plan. The high public interest was likely attributable to Brooks himself. He publicized his effort through speeches, interviews and op-ed articles. Bank lobbyists on the other side of the debate watched with a mixture of horror and fascination, emailing around some of Brooks’s greatest hits.
There was his article in Game & Fish magazine -- likely a first for an OCC chief -- that argued banks are harming hunters by “suffocating” gun manufacturers’ capital needs.
“We can’t rely on all bank executives to be as strong and courageous as American sportsmen,” Brooks wrote.
For their part, bankers bristle at government overseers telling them who they must lend to. They also argue that enacting such contentious policies so quickly sets a dangerous precedent, overturning long-time bank practices with little chance for interested parties to weigh in.
Brooks set a 45-day period for public comment, which the industry said was way too short -- leaving less than two weeks for the OCC to review arguments from lenders and Democratic lawmakers who oppose the rule.
Keyboard Playing
Among bankers, perhaps the most popular Brooks appearance was a question-and-answer video he did at a prominent Washington attorney’s home. While there was much discussion about the OCC’s work, Brooks and the lawyer, Thomas Vartanian, hopped up on a stage at the end of the meeting and jammed out a Billy Joel tune. The acting comptroller plays keyboards and takes the lead vocal. Lobbyists have flooded each others’ inboxes with emails mocking the performance, evidence of how acrimonious the relationship between Brooks and the financial industry has become.
The other OCC policy that troubles large lenders has been his push to award bank charters to financial technology firms. Brooks encouraged the companies to apply, earning him praise as the “first fintech comptroller” from corners of the tech world. In July, Varo Bank became the first fintech company to be granted a full-service charter, followed by Social Finance Inc. in October. Just this week, Anchor Digital Bank became the first cryptocurrency firm to receive a charter.
The OCC is likely to be sued over the fair access rule, bank lawyers said. In addition, with Democrats soon to be in control of both the White House and Congress, there’s a good chance it could be overturned. One avenue to thwart the regulation would be the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to scrap recently enacted policies with a majority vote.
Biden’s Comptroller
Biden’s comptroller could also seek to roll back or slow down Brooks’s actions. While the president-elect has yet to announce a replacement, people familiar with the matter say former Treasury Department official Michael Barr and University of California at Irvine law professor Mehrsa Baradaran are the finalists for the post.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat set to take over as Banking Committee chairman, welcomed word that Brooks is leaving.
“He was starting to do damage there with a number of things he did,” Brown told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m thrilled that those days are going to be behind us.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.