Comptroller of the Currency

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is the federal government agency responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising national banks in the United States. The primary mission of the OCC is to ensure the safety and soundness of the national banking system. The OCC achieves this mission by employing a nationwide staff of examiners who conduct onsite reviews of national banks and continually supervise bank operations. The agency issues rules and legal interpretations concerning bank management, bank investments, bank lending activities, and other aspects of bank operations.

The OCC was established in 1863 under the National Currency Act. This act created a system of nationally chartered banks to issue standardized national bank notes. The OCC was established to administer the new banking system. The law was superseded by the National Bank Act, which authorized the Comptroller of the Currency to hire a staff of national bank examiners to supervise and examine national banks. The act also gave the OCC authority to regulate lending and investment activities of national banks.

The OCC is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury based in Washington, D.C. The OCC is headed by the Comptroller of the Currency, who is appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a 5-year term. The Comptroller also serves as a director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and as a director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

The OCC regulates and supervises more than 2,200 national banks and 56 federal branches of foreign banks in the United States. The OCC regulates and supervises only banks with a national charter. Banks chartered by individual states are regulated and supervised by state banking authorities or the FDIC. The Federal Reserve Board regulates and supervises bank holding companies and foreign-based affiliates.

OCC bank examiners review the activities of national banks and assess the safety and soundness of banks. In conducting their safety and soundness reviews, OCC bank examiners assess the bank's exposure to various risks including market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, and legal risk. OCC examiners review bank lending procedures and bank investment portfolios to ensure that the risks associated with these activities are identified, measured, and managed properly. OCC examiners also review bank funding operations, the level and quality of bank capital, bank underwriting standards, the quality of bank earnings, and compliance with consumer banking laws. OCC examiners also review the bank's internal risk management controls and the bank's performance of fiduciary duties.

In addition to conducting safety and soundness bank exams, the OCC has other regulatory duties. These duties include reviewing applications for new bank charters and branches. The OCC also has the authority to take enforcement actions against banks that do not comply with banking laws and regulations. The OCC has the authority to remove bank officers and directors and can promulgate rules and regulations under the authority of the National Bank Act governing investments, lending, and other practices of national banks. The OCC also provides written guidance to the industry in the form of banking circulars, bulletins, and interpretive releases.

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