Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS AND EMPLOYERS—OCC makes personnel changes to reflect new priorities, (Sep 10, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The OCC appointed a new Principal Deputy Chief Counsel and elevated and filled the position of Senior Deputy Comptroller for Chartering, Organization and Structure.
On September 9, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made a couple of personnel moves. First the agency announced the elevation and renaming of its chartering and licensing function and the appointment of Stephen Lybarger as Senior Deputy Comptroller for Chartering, Organization and Structure. The position is on the OCC’s Executive Committee and reports to the Comptroller of the Currency. The agency also announced the selection of Will Giles as Principal Deputy Chief Counsel. Giles will be the OCC Law Department’s chief operating officer, responsible for the planning and management of all of the operations of the office to advance the Comptroller’s priorities.
Chartering, Organization and Structure. As Senior Deputy Comptroller for Chartering, Organization and Structure, Lybarger will oversee the agency’s licensing function as a separate line of business. He will be responsible for managing the OCC’s licensing process for national banks, federal savings associations, payment stablecoin issuers, and proposals for growth and structure changes to support a safe and sound national banking system, and for coordinating with the Chief Counsel’s Office and Bank Supervision and Examination in connection with such proposals.
“The business of banking is innovating at a rapid pace. Elevating the OCC’s chartering and licensing activities to be managed by a Senior Deputy Comptroller reflects the strategic value of these functions to our agency and the federal banking system,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould.
Gould said the changes affirm the agency’s “support for the formation of de novo banks, signals its openness to considering business combinations that foster competition and better support consumers and communities, and recognizes our new remit to license payment stablecoin issuers.” According to the Comptroller, Lybarger’s knowledge and experience “will ensure the OCC’s evaluation and decisioning of licensing applications is appropriate and timely.”
Lybarger most recently served as Deputy Comptroller for Licensing, assuming that role in 2010. He joined the OCC in 1984 as a community bank examiner and earned his commission as a National Bank Examiner in 1988. He joined the licensing department in 1989.
Principal Deputy Chief Counsel. Will Giles was named as Principal Deputy Chief Counsel, the Law Department’s chief operating officer. Giles will be responsible for the planning and management of all office operations to advance the Comptroller’s priorities and will assist the OCC Chief Counsel in providing legal analyses and advisory services on bank supervision, enforcement, administrative, litigation, and licensing actions.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould lauded Giles’ experience in both the public and private sectors and said the “The OCC now has the right legal leadership in place to ensure that our agency activities are firmly rooted in statute and underpin our work to ensure a safe and sound banking system that effectively serves the nation’s economy.”
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