Fed, OCC Rely on Outdated Approach for Bank Mergers, Warren Says

US regulators in charge of evaluating bank mergers are “asleep at the wheel,” especially given the looming task of considering Capital One Financial Corp.’s proposed purchase of Discover Financial Services, according to Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency should fall in line with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has already finalized updates to its merger guidelines, and the Justice Department, which said it intends to follow a 2023 policy, the Massachusetts Democrat said in a letter to regulators.

Senator Elizabeth Warren

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

“The Fed and the OCC’s failures ...