by Jeff Sovern
Here. One surprise is that the regulator in question is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is showing still more evidence that it has escaped the clutches of the financial industry, which had captured the OCC in the past. An excerpt:
The OCC’s investigation reflects the agency’s increasing focus on fair lending and consumer protection coming out of the financial crisis. The agency, for example, teamed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in July to bring a $210 million action against Capital One for deceiving millions of customers into buying costly and unneeded credit card services.
“The OCC’s interest in [consumer protection issues is] a part of that overall focus in Washington,” said Christopher J. Willis, a partner at the law firm Ballard Spahr.
