Comptroller Gould Testifies on Agency Activities

WASHINGTON—Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould today testified on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) priorities and activities before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services.

Excerpts from Comptroller Gould’s testimony are below. The full written testimony can be found here.

On risk tolerance: “After the 2008 financial crisis, Washington too often sought to eliminate rather than manage risks, resulting in a less relevant and diverse banking system. This approach drove financial activities into less regulated and visible parts of our economy, making risks harder to monitor and mitigate. The Dodd-Frank Act, far from ending too big to fail, created a ‘moat’ around the largest banks and introduced ‘too-small-to-succeed.’ Unelected bureaucrats discouraged prudent risk-taking and reduced credit availability in many communities. In particular, community banks suffered from these misguided policies. The number of banks with less than $1 billion in total assets declined by 50 percent.”

On de novo bank formation: “From 1990 to 2008, the OCC received and approved over 1,000 de novo charter applications. After 2008, application volume and approvals fell by 90 percent. But the OCC is open for business again. The agency received as many applications in 2025 alone as it did in the previous four years. For the first time in five years, a full-service national bank opened its doors. And we have conditionally approved 10 more banks this year. This is the result of us once again following the law and our publicly-stated procedures.”

On supervision: “The OCC is also returning to risk-based supervision rooted in law and emphasizing examiner judgment, not arbitrary checklists. We are hardwiring the foundations of supervision, such as the definition of unsafe and unsound practices, into regulation, and are reviewing past supervisory criticisms and enforcement actions to ensure alignment with our standard for material financial risk.”

On responsible innovation: “Our job is to facilitate, not stymie, responsible innovation. We are working to respond to comments on our GENIUS Act proposal and finalize it. Just as the National Bank Act brought an end to the ‘wildcat’ banking of the 1800s, the GENIUS Act and our rule will help ensure appropriate consumer protections for stablecoin users. In other words, our regulation will help ensure that all OCC institutions are able to satisfy their obligations—including both deposits and stablecoins.”

On debanking: “Our banking system will only remain relevant and trusted if it resists pressures to deny access based on political or religious beliefs or lawful business activity. We have made considerable progress in reviewing the activities of the largest national banks and are investigating complaints of alleged debanking, consistent with the President’s executive order.”