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Temporary Banking Regulator’s Job Status Raises Ethics Questions

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The acting chief of a top federal banking regulator is implementing significant regulatory changes in his temporary post and isn’t subject to the ethics restrictions that would apply to his permanent successor, raising concerns from lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported. Keith Noreika, the first banking regulator installed by the Trump administration, isn’t bound by the usual curbs on lobbying the agency he now leads, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, if he returns to the private sector. Noreika has stood out for his vocal criticism of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would have eased the way for class-action lawsuits against banks. Congress voted to repeal that rule on Tuesday. Now lawmakers and others are raising concerns about his job status, which shields him from restrictions other senior officials must follow. Noreika, who wasn’t available for comment, would voluntarily abide by some rules that don’t apply to him, an OCC spokesman said. Noreika, speaking to reporters after a Washington conference last week, said: “I think I am subject to all the postemployment restrictions that everyone else is, and I should be.”