The Treasury Department provided 80 recommendations, including: a "sandbox" giving regulatory relief to startups, reduction in payday-lending rules, and a fresh look at rules governing fintech investments by banks. The recommendations preceeded the OCC's decision to accept applications for special purpose fintech charters.
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Trump Administration Embraces Fintech Startups
Many of the Treasury’s roughly 80 recommendations require additional action from regulators or Congress to bring to reality. Others face hurdles. Any application for a fintech bank charter is likely to face a lawsuit from state regulators, for instance. Industry reaction to the report was broadly positive from banks, payment companies, online lenders and others. Brian Knight, a senior research fellow at George Mason University who has argued current U.S. rules for fintechs are inefficient, said the regulatory regime described in the report toed a middle ground. “It increases competitiveness of fintechs, to the extent they are disadvantaged under the current environment, but in other areas [it] will help banks,” he said.
