TNR on the OCC

The New Republic (TNR) has recently posted an article (sub. req'd) about the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The article's title, "The Nefarious Bureaucrat Who's Helping Banks Rip You Off," tells you the gist of the article. For many Credit Slips readers, it won't be news that the OCC's has used its federal powers to stop state initiatives to protect consumers. I found the portrait of Julie Williams, the head chief counsel of the OCC, quite interesting. Although her policies are in line with the Bush Administration's general use of federal authority to preempt state consumer protection legislation, she has been at the OCC in various capacities since 1993. If you have access to TNR, this article is worth a look.

UPDATE: As originally posted, I mistakenly identified Julie Williams as the head of the OCC. She is the first senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel and in that role has a significant role in deciding the litigation positions of the OCC. For the record, the head of the OCC is John C. Dugan.

Comments

[Ken Houghton]

I've dealt directly with the OCC twice. They were very amenable to evidence the first time (the capital impact of an IR Swap != the full notional principal) and not at all interested the second (the diceyest Structured Notes were all issued by FL-based companies).

Nice to know things haven't changed for the better of the commonweal in the past decade.

[bailey]

Thank you so much, I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!!!

[Diane]

If you've seen the movie "Maxed Out", you can clearly see and hear where Ms.William's loyalties lie, and it's definitely NOT with the consumer !

[Randy]

My experience with OCC was not unusual at all. The employees can not read, write or think. Theys sided with the bank against me because the OCC could not tell ascertain whether January 5 happened before January 15th.

[David Yen]

For letter to the New Republic defending OCC, and response by the author, go to

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w070903&s=correspondence090707