California plans to create a program for fintech companies to work with regulators on innovative products and services; key to this plan is the create an Office of Innovation in San Francisco, a hub for fintech innovation; California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) Commissioner Manny Alvarez said the office is intended “to help us keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in financial services and innovation”; this initiative would not be sandbox and it wouldn’t have independent rule-writing or supervisory functions; the other part of the Governor’s vision is to transform the DBO into the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, modeled on the original vision for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; the plans have to be approved by the state legislature before they could take affect. Bloomberg Law
