Federal Reserve official set to lead U.S. banking regulator: reports

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is reportedly set to name a Federal Reserve official to take over at the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on an acting basis, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Politico

Yellen has reportedly tapped Michael Hsu, who currently serves as an assistant director at the Federal Reserve, to take over for Blake Paulson. Paulson has been acting comptroller since the departure of Brian Brooks in January. Speaking to The Block, Hsu declined to comment, as did a representative for the OCC. 

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Paulson has largely continued Brooks' approach with the issuance of charters for crypto companies. As previously reported, the crypto-centric efforts undertaken by Brooks attracted criticism from Congressional Democrats during his time in office.

Owing largely to Brooks' legacy, as well as the role of the OCC as the point regulator for national banking registration, the question of who would take over the OCC on a more permanent basis has been the subject of no small amount of speculation from the crypto community. 

Yellen served as the chair of the Federal Reserve between 2014 and 2018, serving under presidents Obama and Trump.

About Author

Kollen Post is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things policy and geopolitics from Washington, DC. That includes legislation and regulation, securities law and money laundering, cyber warfare, corruption, CBDCs, and blockchain’s role in the developing world. He speaks Russian and Arabic. You can send him leads at [email protected].