The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is looking to launch what it calls a bank-run “pilot” that would help support financial technology companies, according to the federal banking regulator's chief counsel.

In her keynote address at the American Bar Association's annual meeting in New York Thursday, Amy Friend, senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel at the OCC, said the agency is exploring opportunities to create a regulatory sandbox, an environment in which companies can test new products and business models without worrying about the regulatory consequences.

Friend shared how the OCC's Office of Innovation has been researching how other agencies in the U.S. and abroad are embracing the financial technology sector. She pointed to the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K., which has been held up as a global leader in the space, known for encouraging innovation.