The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has selected Prashant Bhardwaj to lead its recently established Office of Financial Technology.
Bhardwaj, as the deputy comptroller and chief financial technology officer, will lead a team that analyzes trends in financial technology and evaluates potential risks. He joins the newly established OCC tech office after a 30-year career in the financial services industry.
He also holds a master’s degree in accounting and an MBA from the International Management Institute Universiade de Brussels.
The OCC – an independent bureau of the Treasury Department responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising all national banks, foreign banks, and savings associations in the U.S. – established the new tech office last year.
The purpose of the new office is to improve the OCC’s expertise on digital assets, fintech partnerships, and other changing technologies and business models within and that affect OCC-supervised banks.
“Financial technology is changing rapidly and bank-fintech partnerships are likely to continue growing in number and complexity,” Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said last year. “To ensure that the federal banking system is safe, sound, and fair today and well into the future, we need to have a deep understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape.”
“The establishment of this office will enable us to be more agile and to promote responsible innovation, consistent with our mission,” he added.
