Otting Reverses Policy And Lets Bank Examiners Stay

Bank examiners can stay in house, a policy where they work inside the institutions they supervise.

That’s according to an announcement by the Comptroller of the Currency, Joseph Otting, who said Wednesday (Dec. 6) that he would reverse the policy already in place at the regulator.

Reuters reported that Otting was reversing a policy that had been set in place under the presidential administration of Barack Obama. Under the terms set by that administration and under the previous comptroller, Thomas Curry, bank examiners were directed to move to locations that were not on-site at the banks being regulated.

The newswire stated that Otting’s move came amid others seen during the relatively new administration in place under President Donald Trump, with an intent to loosen some of the restrictions levied on the financial sector in the wake of the financial crisis. The reason for the shift? The costs of maintaining independent real estate for those examiners, who keep watch on firms such as Bank of America.

Otting said that “upon review, it is not practical to continue the agency’s efforts to move resident examiners out of on-site locations. The agency will continue to review its locations and real estate strategy to ensure they support the agency’s mission in the most operationally and cost-effective manner possible.”

In tandem with the announcement, said Otting, the OCC will look to boost employee supervision, and will also rotate examiners among banks.