Regulator Sets ‘True Lender’ Standard for Bank-Fintech Loans (1)

National banks will be considered the “true lender” of loans made in partnership with fintech companies if the banks fund the loans or are named as the lender in the loan agreement, the OCC said.

The final rule issued Tuesday is meant to provide certainty to financial markets and address concerns about “rent-a-charter” structures in which nonbank lenders partner with national banks solely to evade state usury caps.

“These arrangements have absolutely no place in the federal banking system,” and banks will be held accountable for all the loans they make, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said ...