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James Stevens

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James is the co-leader of the firm’s Financial Services Industry Group. He has significant experience working with clients across the entire financial services sector, regularly working with public and private companies such as banks, neobanks, marketplace lenders, and other fintech and financial services providers and partners.

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at clarifying the permissible activities of national trust banks. The proposal seeks to amend chartering regulations to explicitly state that national trust companies may engage in nonfiduciary activities, such as asset custody, without being required to obtain a full-service national bank charter. However, the proposed rule does not address what specific nonfiduciary activities are permissible, nor does it indicate whether a national trust company must engage in a minimum level of fiduciary activities.

On December 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed a new rule that would create a formal, bank‑centric process for issuing payment stablecoins. The rule is designed to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) and would apply to FDIC‑supervised institutions, state nonmember banks and state savings associations, that want to issue payment stablecoins through a subsidiary. With this proposed rule, the FDIC is seeking to “evaluate the safety and soundness of an applicant’s proposed activities based on consideration of statutory factors and support the responsible growth and use of digital assets and related technologies while minimizing the regulatory burden on applicants.”

On December 16, the Federal Reserve Board issued a Request for Information on a new special‑purpose “Payment Account” prototype, which is essentially a stripped‑down Federal Reserve Bank account designed for institutions focused on payments innovation. The goal with this specialized or “skinny” access is to give legally eligible, payments‑centric institutions a more predictable and lower‑risk path to access key Federal Reserve payment services, without changing who is legally eligible for Federal Reserve master accounts.

On December 17, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) proposed new guidance that would significantly streamline how community banks elect to be evaluated under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) by providing a simplified strategic plan form. Framed as part of Comptroller Gould’s broader initiative to reduce regulatory burden on community banks, the proposal would make the strategic plan option more accessible, more predictable, and less resource‑intensive for smaller institutions.

Federal banking regulators previewed near-term rulemaking plans that will shape the fintech landscape. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) expects to issue a stablecoin licensing proposal “before the end of the year,” and the FDIC reiterated that “a deposit is a deposit” even when tokenized. Separately, the Federal Reserve is targeting the fourth quarter of 2026 for operational rollout of “skinny” master accounts to widen access to payment rails for eligible depository institutions.

On October 29, the Federal Reserve’s Division of Supervision and Regulation issued a Statement of Supervisory Operating Principles that formalizes Vice Chair for Supervision Miki Bowman’s August direction to reset how the Fed supervises banks. The goal of this action is to strengthen supervision by focusing on identifying and acting early on the most important risks to safety and soundness, using proportionate, timely measures. This represents a significant change from prior practice, moving away from process-heavy supervision and toward judgment-driven oversight.

On November 5, the Federal Reserve Board announced that it had finalized revisions to its Large Financial Institution (LFI) rating system and the Insurance Supervisory Framework that change when a firm is considered “well managed” and recalibrated the enforcement stance tied to weaker component ratings. Under the new approach, a firm with at least two component ratings of Broadly Meets Expectations or Conditionally Meets Expectations and no more than one Deficient-1 will be deemed “well managed.” The Board also replaces the automatic presumption of an enforcement action for one or more Deficient-1 ratings with a case-by-case determination, while retaining a presumption of formal action for any Deficient-2. The Insurance Supervisory Framework was updated to remove a reference to reputational risk. The changes become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. Governor Michael Barr dissented, warning the rule lowers safeguards and conflicts with statutory “well managed” requirements.

At The Clearing House Annual Conference, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould outlined an agency-wide strategy to defend and promote federal preemption across the banking system. As reported by Law360, he emphasized pairing court advocacy with public- and policymaker-facing engagement to rebuild political support that he said has eroded over the past 15 years.

Monday, November 10, 2025

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James Stevens, partner and co-leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Financial Services Industry Group, will present “Bank Partnerships and Banking‑as‑a‑Service: New Pressure and New Opportunities” at Practising Law Institute’s Banking Law Institute 2025 on Monday, November 10, 2025. This daylong advanced-level CLE program will cover recent developments impacting the…

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November 12 – 14, 2025

Members of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Financial Services Industry Group are set to speak at the upcoming Third Party Payment Processor’s Annual Conference, “Solving the Payment Puzzle.” This event offers attendees valuable insights into the latest developments in payments and compliance.