The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has denied plans to receive transferred employees from other agencies targeted by recent workforce cuts, amid concerns over potential agency consolidation.
The OCC stated that some email lists for transferees from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were “legacy accounts created in 2011” – a claim contradicted by employees who discovered these lists appeared to be new.
Project 2025, produced by the Heritage Foundation, advocates for legislation merging the OCC, FDIC, National Credit Union Administration, and Federal Reserve’s bank regulatory functions into one agency. It also calls for eliminating the CFPB. The Trump administration has pursued changes through administrative actions rather than legislative ones.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February giving him more control over independent federal regulators, which could facilitate agency consolidation. However, combining these functions may bring uncertainty and opacity to the banking system, potentially leading to destabilizing bank runs.
Industry experts warn that merging agencies without revising federal laws would be counterproductive, making it harder to improve processes instead of improving them.
Source: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/occ-denies-plans-to-consolidate-federal-banking-regulators