What Is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)?

The Office of the Comptroller (OCC) is a U.S. Treasury branch created in 1863 to supervise and regulate all national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and foreign bank agencies in the United States. 

The OCC gets its mandate from the U.S.’ Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), occasionally releases bulletins and advisories to make sure that BSA’s anti-money laundering (AML) requirements are uniformly applied. 

The OCC under the leadership of ex-Coinbase executive Brian Brooks made waves in 2020 with several progressive digital asset reforms and initiatives to clarify its crypto policy and help U.S. banks offers custodial services to its customers. 

In May 2021, the OCC’s new Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu threatened to review Brooks’ reforms in what appears to be a more negative assessment of cryptocurrencies.