The head of the U.S. Office of Currency Controller (OCC), Brian P. Brooks, has officially announced his resignation on January 14, 2021.
In a statement dated Jan. 13, the organization said that Blake Paulson, chief operating officer, would become acting observer of the currency, replacing Brooks who had served eight months.
Brian P. Brooks will act as acting custodian of the coin on January 14, 2021 https://t.co/bGpnNapT1F
– OCC (@USOCC) 13 January 2021
Retiring Chief Brooks, formerly Coinbase’s chief legal officer, was a breath of fresh air with his forward-looking approach. On January 12, he suggested that DeFi could eradicate prejudice and fraud in traditional banking, and that the regulations should be reconfigured for a period of algorithms.
After a number of years of regulatory uncertainty, the agency, which falls under the scope of the US Treasury, recently moved to allow banks to use independent blockchain nodes and systems.
The announcement acknowledges these achievements and adds that Brooks has helped ensure that the federal banking system can evolve to meet the changing demands of consumers and markets by banking and savings authorities regarding certain crypto-asset activities. brighten. ‘
Outgoing President Donald Trump formally nominated Brooks for a full five-year term in November, but opposition came from Democrats who believed elected President Joe Biden should oversee the election.
Brooks, a former Coinbase CEO, said he leaves the OCC in competent hands. His replacement, Paulson, is a career bank investigator and has served as chief operating officer for the agency since June 2020. Prior to his role at the agency, Paulson was responsible for overseeing 1,100 national banks and federal savings associations, making him essentially a veteran traditional banker.
It is unclear how Paulson will approach crypto-assets, but Democratic members of the U.S. Congress have criticized Brooks earlier for placing too much emphasis on moving to digital banking and not focusing enough on easing Covid-19.
The OCC oversees nearly 1,200 national banks, federal savings societies, federal branches and agencies of foreign banks, which among them operate about 70% of all U.S. banking businesses.