On October 25, 2016, OCC Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry delivered remarks to a group of bank regulators at the tenth annual FDIC Accounting and Auditing Conference.  The remarks, addressing the importance of interagency collaboration, provide insight into how Comptroller Curry views the OCC’s relations with the other banking agencies.

In his remarks, Comptroller Curry provided examples of exemplary interagency collaboration, including the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (“FFIEC”) work on BSA/AML examination manual and cybersecurity assessment tool, as well as the collaboration fostered by the Financial Stability Oversight Committee (“FSOC”). Comptroller Curry also noted the importance of interagency collaboration in helping banks and thrifts, particularly community banks, thrive, referencing the OCC’s 2015 paper that encourages community banks to work together.

Comptroller Curry told the bank regulators in the audience that he was “particularly proud” of the OCC’s coordination with the CFPB, emphasizing the “Coordination Principles” between the agencies announced earlier this year. Comptroller Curry described the agencies as having “clearly distinct jurisdictions” and said that, as the agencies’ relationship has matured since the CFPB’s establishment, “viewing our work competitively at any level is counterproductive.”