OCC Limits Public Notice of Applications Amid World Liberty Trust Co Challenge by FFW

OCC Limits Public Notice of Applications Amid World Liberty Trust Co Challenge by FFW by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SOUTH BRONX/SDNY, March 20– Amid the FDIC eliminating public notice of and public comment on branch applications, when Inner City Press simultaneously challenged Bunq and World Liberty Trust Company, by 7 pm on January 14 the OCC had only acknowledged FFW's comment on Bunq - nothing on WLTC - even on February 8 while the comment period was set to expire.  This as the OCC says its reviews are apolitical.  Now the lack of transparency is spreading. The OCC eliminated its Weekly Bulletin of pending applications, a form of public notice that went back decades. They posted, "Effective December 19, 2025, the Weekly Bulletin has been replaced by the Corporate Applications Search (CAS) tool, which provides the same information."   Until March 20, the CAS would allow one to search back from whatever day it was - say, March 20 - the last five days, or ten days, or thirty days.  Then on March 20, no search was possible beyond March 15 - all the five most recent days are gray and can't be search. Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch asked Licensing why: "Question: Today March 20 Fair Finance Watch (and Inner City Press) suddenly found that on the CAS the most recent date is now March 15 (and not March 20). Will OCC revert to real time (up to the day) search. If not, why not? On deadline."   The response: "Dear Mr. Lee, Thank you for your questions and comments.  The five-day delay is not new."  But it is. Inner City Press replied, "the page has always had language about a five day delay.  But until today when you pick a date to search back from, you could choose today's day. Now, starting only today, you can only choose five days before. March 16 17 18 19 and 20 are all grayed-out.  This is a limitation and the question is, why was it done and by whom? Thanks in advance." But hours later, nothing. On February 9, this from the OCC: "Dear Mr. Lee: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) acknowledges receipt of your emails dated January 14, February 2, and February 8, 2026, regarding the above referenced application. We appreciate your comments and will consider these remarks during our review of the application. Please include the OCC control number on any correspondence related to this filing. If you have any questions, please contact the undersigned. Sincerely, Jonathan S. Borton Analyst, Chartering, Organization and Structure Office of the Comptroller of the Currency." Now on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here Now what? See, e.g., Sept 10, 2025: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdic-is-undercutting-a-key-element-of-the-cra    But now the Federal regulator(s) blithely propose(s) to eliminate public notice and public comment on banks' proposals to expand.  The above-quoted reasoning is that few comments are filed. So, that is now changing. *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com