It’s worth pointing out (perhaps to Mr. Curry) that the first time any of us had heard about the OCC was Eliot Spitzer’s February 2008 opinion piece, where he referred to their actions as “an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye” in 2003.  (Spitzer’s scandal, on which all charges were dropped for lack of evidence, coincidentally broke less than a month later.)

That’s the agency’s reputation.  Not “coddling” the banks, but acting as their defender by actively depriving states of their consumer protection laws and suing all fifty state Attorneys General to block them from investigating.  Coddling is generally considered being nice to someone, not kicking everybody else in the shins.

JP Morgan senior bank executives responsible for the $2 billion plus trading loss do not want any of their pay taken back to make for it. The executives just want the taxpayer to put it on their “tab” as usual.

wish I could be at all optimistic…but no and no…

witness Schneiderpuppet

“The heavyweight there, by all accounts, is Julie Williams, the agency’s general counsel. She is savvy, aggressive, generally knows more about bank rules than anyone else in the room — and consistently pushes for less regulation...”

Sounds like a member of those “conservatives” who worship Ayn Rand. 

You know, those nominal Americans who - like the “conservatives” on the Supreme Court - are intent upon defining the course of this nation with no regard or respect for the wishes of the American people or the safety and security - the long-term survival - of the United States of America?

I don’t think anyone whose goal set is restricted to that which gives those who already have wealth and power more wealth and power has any place in elected or appointed office in a democracy, for when you permit such a person to attain such an office the apparent rule is they will also operate with no regard or respect for the responsibilities and limits of their office or the role of government as outlined by the Constitution.

Also like the so-called “conservatives” on the Supreme Court.

OCC turned into a lion without teeth in 1982 as a result of fiscal policies of the bygone era. The sad part of our capitalist democracy is that public’s input into the process is neglected by lawmakers due to sheer influence of lobbysts that have infilterated every corner of our House of Represntatives!

To be clear, what are efforts to deregulate if not attempts to reduce the constraints on those who already have wealth and power? 

Are they not an attempt to give those who already have wealth and power more wealth and power by weakening/eliminating/not enforcing those regulations which prevent them from preying upon those who have less wealth and power?

Seems more and more like a monarchy than a democracy to me. I’m glad Mr. Curry got the job rather than Ms. Williams. How are those two going to get along, I wonder?

Nonsense.  As long as banksters give away billions to hijack one-person/one-vote, there is no public official that has any power to change anything. That is a fact that rises above the endless political rhetoric of change.

John: Re Spitzer: EXACTLY!! Hope Curry doesn’t have any skeletons in his closet.

If Curry really does start rattling cages, we can be sure the next tactic our bought off legislators will accomplish is to de-fund the OCC along with all other regulatory agencies which don’t conform to corporate designs - actions which will be hotly defended and justified through using the terms “fiscal responsibility” and “government intrusion into American lives” of course.

sorry i don’t believe you will regulate anying but your way to a corporate job.  i’ve lost all faith in our government and business and new leaders.

The OCC grants “bank charters” that are issued based on a “public trust” that the bank will do well in every State in which it operates.  It should be the responsibility of each State Banking Commissioner to make sure that this is delivered.  “Doing well,” means that the bank has to work accretively with the residents and small businesses of each State to make sure that each State economy functions.  This function means making working capital loans available to small businesses in a State and making residential mortgages available at competitive rates.  It seems to me that the OCC and the state Banking Commissioners have failed in their duties to enforce.  The OCC banks have also not lived up to their obligation to deliver without needing to be supervised.

We have a mess.

I will believe the Curry cure when I see it.

Old Law books and the system need thorough overhauling and no one but good and less-greedy hamans only can make a difference.

So, no one even thinking about firing Julie Williams then?

@Michael Fulks:  Not having had the wisdom to cultivate my greed at the expense of my ethical system from an early age, I am not a member of the 0.01% our politicians bow to; in consequence, I am afraid that my opinion that an individual who is not a legislator or a member of the Administration should not be running around demanding that the law be changed to suit their personal ethos - that is, my opinion that the Constitution should be adhered to - carries no weight.

I’m just…an American…just one among the several hundred million Americans who are being forced to watch as the greed of those inside and outside of government destroys America.

I’d note that common sense should prevail.

History has far more anecdotes of soldiers, law enforcement officers, and even juries deciding to not enforce laws that they don’t support than it does of people choosing to comply with laws that impede their ability to get what they want when they know the regulatory or law enforcement officer(s) (or the regulatory agency’s general counsel) might at least be called as an eager witness in their defense - and the wishes of the electorate and its legislative bodies be damned.  Assuming those officers enforce the law, at all, of course..which is a bad assumption to make if they’re making their antipathy towards the law public knowledge.

If you want a law obeyed, you don’t want the authority figures responsible for enforcing that law running around ridiculing it.  But that, again, is common sense…and simply doesn’t have the weight of money.

This part in particular, is well said:  << Good regulation isn’t made merely through money, staffing and legal power. It’s made through will and commitment. >>.  Fraud is already fraud, it doesn’t have to be re-defined, it just has to be prosecuted.

We need only to look at the example of Iceland to know how to deal with the Banksters.