Becoming or owning an industrial loan company (or ILC)—the elusive "nonbank bank" option, as Congress coined the term in 1987— still has an allure for financial services providers that want to (1) lend on a national scale...more
An industrial bank or industrial loan company (each, an ILC) charter can be an attractive option for a financial technology company (fintech) or other company seeking to enter the banking space. In June 2024, the Federal...more
Recently, several financial technology (“Fintech”) organizations have applied for – and been granted – banking charter licenses. For example, in May 2019, Grasshopper was approved for a charter issued by the Office of the...more
Court Rules that Debt Collector Violated FDCPA with Communication to Dunning Vendor - A federal appellate court has recently ruled that a debt collector violated certain privacy requirements under the federal Fair Debt...more
On December 7, 2020, several bank and credit union trade associations (collectively, the “Associations”) submitted a joint letter (the “Letter”) to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) opposing the...more
On July 31, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved the national bank charter application of Varo Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of fintech Varo Money, Inc. The approved application is for a...more
On July 31, 2020, Varo Money Inc. announced that it was granted a national bank charter by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The charter will allow Varo, a mobile banking fintech, to launch a national...more
On February 7, all-mobile banking services startup Varo Money, Inc. (“Varo”) received the FDIC’s approval of its federal deposit insurance application for Varo Bank, N.A. (in formation) (the “Bank”). The FDIC’s approval...more
The Situation: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") has appealed a decision from the Southern District of New York that concluded that the OCC lacks the authority to grant "Fintech Charters" to nondepository...more
On October 21, 2019, Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York issued a final decision and order in New York State’s challenge to the OCC’s statutory authority to grant special...more
There have been a handful of recent marketplace lending developments that indicate that the legal uncertainties in the post-Madden world are not going away anytime soon....more
Last fall, we reported that one fintech company – Varo Money, Inc. – a mobile banking startup helping customers solve financial problems, manage money and reach financial goals, applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the...more
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced that it would begin accepting national bank charter applications from non-depository FinTech companies that seek to engage in the business of banking. In...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on July 31 that it will begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank charters from nondepository financial technology companies (fintechs) that are...more
On July 31, 2018 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that, effective immediately, it is now accepting national bank charter applications from nondepository financial technology (fintech) companies...more
The OCC announced on Tuesday, July 31, that it would begin accepting applications for special purpose national bank (SPNB) charters from FinTech companies engaged in the business of banking. The agency released a Policy...more
The Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) presented a White Paper in December 2016 on Exploring Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies (“White Paper”). Comptroller Tom Curry noted that he had asked the OCC...more
An ILC, or industrial loan company, is a form of bank that can be chartered in Utah, Nevada, and a few other states. ILCs are insured by the FDIC and have most traditional banking powers, but they cannot hold corporate...more
During recent months, Kilpatrick Townsend Partner Christina Gattuso and Counsel Eamonn Moran have provided regular updates regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) decision to move forward with...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) has released a draft supplement to its Licensing Manual that explains the process for an entity engaged in financial technology—or FinTech—activities to charter a...more
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has come out strongly against an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposal to grant national bank charters to financial technology (fintech)...more
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") announced on Friday, December 2, that it seeks comments on whether it should grant "special purpose" national bank charters to financial technology companies. Some of the...more
On December 19th, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a final rule regarding how it will address receiverships of special purpose national banks which do not have deposits insured by the Federal Deposit...more
On December 2, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced its willingness to entertain applications from financial technology (fintech) companies for special purpose national bank charters. In recent...more