The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is focused on growing the number of new bank charters to build a diverse banking system.
Over the past 15 years, new bank charters have declined significantly. From 2011 through 2014, the OCC received an average of less than four charter applications per year. In some years, the OCC received no charter applications.
“De novo chartering is a sign of a healthy banking system,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said. “The FDIC’s new process to review deposit insurance applications aligns with the OCC’s efforts to reverse the decline in de novo chartering by providing a clear and transparent application process that encourages new entrants to the banking system – which drive innovation and expand consumer choice.”
In the last 18 months, the OCC has received 40 new applications, including applications for national trust banks, which the OCC has chartered for decades. In many cases, the OCC has made decisions on charter applications within 120 days of receipt of the complete application. As a result, for the first time in five years, a full-service national bank has already received the OCC’s final approval and opened its doors.
“For more than a decade, regulators signaled that those seeking a federal bank charter and federal deposit insurance need not apply,” Gould said. “Entities that engage in legally permissible activities, including those involving digital assets and other novel technologies, should have a path to becoming a national bank. America and the OCC are once again open for business.”
The OCC commended the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for its recent efforts to prioritize new bank charters.