Washington, D.C. — Today, BPI submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for data that supports the agency’s assertions about banks in its Fair Access proposal. The OCC has rushed this proposed rule without providing enough time or information for banks or the public to respond meaningfully to the proposal which relies on false notions about the role of larger banks in the economy.
“The OCC’s fair access proposal rests on a series of conclusory statements and assertions that are not backed up by any factual support or analysis,” said John Court, General Counsel at the Bank Policy Institute. “We disagree with these statements and assertions, and therefore we are asking the OCC in this FOIA request to produce the data, evidence and analysis that underpins them.”
The information requested by BPI’s FOIA request is the kind of supporting data that would customarily be expected to be included in a transparent and fair rulemaking process. BPI also had requested a 30-day extension of the comment deadline on this proposal, but the agency, disappointingly, denied it on Nov. 30 –a move that will limit the public’s ability to digest and thoughtfully respond to the proposal.
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About Bank Policy Institute.
The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is a nonpartisan public policy, research and advocacy group, representing the nation’s leading banks and their customers. Our members include universal banks, regional banks and the major foreign banks doing business in the United States. Collectively, they employ almost 2 million Americans, make nearly half of the nation’s small business loans, and are an engine for financial innovation and economic growth.
