The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking to clarify the authority of national banks.
The proposal would neither expand nor contract the OCC’s authority to charter a national bank.
Specifically, the proposal would apply to all applicants for a national bank charter that is limited to the operations of a trust company and activities.
In addition, it would align with the OCC’s statutory authorization to charter national banks limited to the operations of a trust company and activities related thereto. Further, it would change references from “fiduciary activities” to “operations of a trust company and activities related thereto.”
“Section 5.20 provides for the general procedures for filing an application, the OCC’s review, procedures for organizing the new bank, and other requirements,” the rulemaking proposal said. “Since 1996, § 5.20(e)(1)(i) has addressed certain statutory requirements for the OCC’s chartering of a national bank. The regulation states that the OCC charters national banks under the authority of the National Bank Act and includes the requirement that a national bank’s name must include the word “national.”
Comments on the proposed rule are due 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.