Wall Street Watchdog Sees Little Need to Ramp Up Bank Capital
- Acting OCC chief Hsu says he has no plans to overhaul rules
- Cryptocurrencies, fintech will be priorities during his tenure
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Wall Street’s new watchdog said he’s generally comfortable with big bank capital levels, signaling he won’t erode earnings by cranking up demands.
Michael Hsu, who this month became acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said he has no plans to “open it up and do a bunch of surgery” on rules that dictate the amount of capital and liquid assets that lenders must stockpile to protect against losses. Such regulations are crucial to the industry because they determine how much of firms’ profits can be returned to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.