Comptroller Gould Testifies on Agency Priorities — 2026-02-26

WASHINGTON—Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould today testified on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) priorities and activities before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Excerpts from Comptroller Gould’s testimony are below. The full written testimony can be found here. On risk tolerance: “In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, Washington too often sought to eliminate rather than manage risks, resulting in a less relevant and diverse banking system. Unelected bureaucrats discouraged prudent risk-taking, stifled innovation, and drove credit out of reach for small businesses and communities. The Dodd-Frank Act, far from ending too big to fail, created a ‘moat’ around the very largest banks and introduced ‘too-small-to-succeed.’ Community banks with less than one billion dollars in total assets have since seen their numbers cut in half.” On debanking: “No American should be denied access to banking products and services because of political or religious beliefs or lawful business activity.