Now financial technology companies have more clues as to what to expect from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and its plans for a special purpose national bank charter.

In a speech to the Exchequer Club in Washington, D.C., July 19, OCC acting comptroller Keith Noreika defended the agency's right to grant charters to nonbanks, including fintechs, in some of his first public remarks on the initiative that was introduced by his predecessor, Thomas Curry.

“Providing a path for these companies to become national banks is pro-growth and in some ways can reduce regulatory burden for those companies,” said Noreika, a former partner with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, in prepared remarks.