OTS chief weighs the future of thrifts

The Dodd-Frank bill has “eroded” the benefits of the federal thrift charter and it’s unclear if existing institutions will “prosper” under the supervision of the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, according to the current thrift regulator. Office of Thrift Supervision acting director John Bowman noted that state regulators are trying to persuade thrift managers to convert to a state bank charter. “Only time will tell how many OTS-regulated thrifts choose state supervision over the OCC, or decide to stay with OCC, but eventually abandon their thrift charters in favor of national bank charters,” Bowman said at an international financial conference in Tokyo.