On May 2, 2019, a court in the Southern District of New York
("SDNY") held that the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency ("OCC") lacked the statutory authority to
charter nondepository special purpose national banks (the so-called
"FinTech Charter"). In denying, with one exception, the
OCC's motions to dismiss claims by New York's Department of
Financial Services ("DFS"), the Court held that the OCC
could not charter a nondepository "national bank" because
the National Bank Act "unambiguously requires that, absent a
statutory provision to the contrary, only depository institutions
are eligible to receive national bank charters from the
OCC."
On July 31, 2018, the OCC
announced it would begin to accept and review applications for
the FinTech Charter after previously deferring action in response
to state regulator opposition. In response, on September 14, 2018,
DFS refiled its litigation challenging the OCC's authority to
grant FinTech Charters. The DFS asserted
