Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Flag of the Comptroller of the Currency | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | February 25, 1863 |
Headquarters | Constitution Center, Washington, D.C. |
Employees | 3,518 (as of December 31, 2020) |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Department of the Treasury |
Website | www |
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the
Duties and functions
Headquartered in
The OCC pursues a number of main objectives:
- to ensure the safety and soundness of the national banking system;
- to foster competition by allowing banks to offer new products and services;
- to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of OCC supervision especially to reduce the regulatory burden;
- to ensure fair and equal access to financial services to all Americans;
- to enforce anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws that apply to national banks and federally licensed branches and agencies of international banks; and
- to investigate misconduct committed by institution-affiliated parties of national banks, including officers, directors, employees, agents and independent contractors(including appraisers, attorneys and accountants).
The OCC participates in interagency activities in order to maintain the integrity of the federal banking system. By monitoring
The OCC regulates and supervises about 1,200 national banks, federally-licensed savings associations, and federally-licensed branches of foreign banks in the United States,[4] accounting for more than two-thirds of the total assets of all U.S. commercial banks (as of September 30, 2020).
Other financial regulatory agencies like the OCC include the
The Comptroller serves as a director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.
Preemption of state banking regulation
In 2003, the OCC proposed regulations to preempt virtually all state banking and financial services laws for national banks and their diverse range of non-bank, corporate operating subsidiaries.
State regulators cannot interfere with the business of banking by subjecting national banks or their OCC-licensed operating subsidiaries to multiple audits and surveillance under rival oversight regimes.[7]
In
HelpWithMyBank.gov
In July 2007, the OCC launched HelpWithMyBank.gov to assist customers of national banks and provide answers to national banking questions.[9]
Financial inclusion
On July 10, 2020, the OCC announced the launch of Project REACh. REACh stands for Roundtable for Economic Access and Change, and the project brings together leaders from the banking industry, national civil rights organizations, business, and technology to reduce specific barriers that prevent full, equal, and fair participation in the nation's economy.[10]
History
During the American Civil War, leaders of the U.S. federal government, including President Abraham Lincoln and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, drafted plans for a national banking system. These plans were put into action by the National Currency Act of 1863, subsequently amended by the National Bank Act, which created the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to administer the new system.[11]
Under the law, banks could apply to the OCC for a charter issued by the federal government. Approved banks would purchase U.S.
In 1913, the Federal Reserve Act established a central bank, the Federal Reserve, to issue American currency. The OCC's role shifted to bank examination and regulation, though it retained "currency" as part of its name.[12][2]
The OCC was involved in the response during and after the
Pronunciation
As with other uses of the English word "comptroller" there is some ambiguity about the agency's pronunciation. Historically, the word was pronounced identically to "controller," though it is increasingly pronounced as it is spelled (that is, comp-troller).[14] According to Marketplace, former acting Comptroller Keith Noreika and his successor, Joseph Otting, both used the latter pronunciation.[15]
List of comptrollers of the currency
Portrait | Administrator | Took office | Left office[16] |
---|---|---|---|
Hugh McCulloch | February 25, 1863 | March 9, 1865 | |
Freeman Clarke | March 9, 1865 | July 24, 1866 | |
Hiland R. Hulburd | February 1, 1867 | April 3, 1872 | |
John Jay Knox Jr. | April 25, 1872 | April 30, 1884 | |
Henry W. Cannon | May 12, 1884 | March 1, 1886 | |
William L. Trenholm | April 20, 1886 | April 30, 1889 | |
Edward S. Lacey | May 1, 1889 | June 30, 1892 | |
A. Barton Hepburn | August 2, 1892 | April 25, 1893 | |
James H. Eckels | April 26, 1893 | December 31, 1897 | |
Charles G. Dawes | January 1, 1898 | September 30, 1901 | |
William Barret Ridgely | October 1, 1901 | March 28, 1908 | |
Lawrence O. Murray | April 27, 1908 | April 27, 1913 | |
John Skelton Williams | February 2, 1914 | March 2, 1921 | |
Daniel Richard Crissinger | March 17, 1921 | March 30, 1923 | |
Henry M. Dawes | May 1, 1923 | December 17, 1924 | |
Joseph W. McIntosh | December 20, 1924 | November 20, 1928 | |
John W. Pole | November 21, 1928 | September 20, 1932 | |
James Francis Thaddeus O'Connor | May 11, 1933 | April 16, 1938 | |
Preston Delano | October 24, 1938 | February 15, 1953 | |
Ray M. Gidney | April 16, 1953 | November 15, 1961 | |
James J. Saxon | November 16, 1961 | November 15, 1966 | |
William B. Camp | November 16, 1966 | March 23, 1973 | |
James E. Smith | July 5, 1973 | July 31, 1976 | |
John G. Heimann | July 21, 1977 | May 15, 1981 | |
Charles Lord | 1981 | 1981 | |
C. T. Conover | December 16, 1981 | May 4, 1985 | |
Robert L. Clarke | December 2, 1985 | February 29, 1992 | |
Stephen Steinbrink (acting) | March 1, 1992 | 1993 | |
Eugene Ludwig | April 5, 1993 | April 3, 1998 | |
Julie L. Williams (acting) | April 4, 1998 | December 8, 1998 | |
John D. Hawke Jr. | December 8, 1998 | October 13, 2004 | |
Julie L. Williams (acting) | October 14, 2004 | August 4, 2005 | |
John C. Dugan | August 4, 2005 | August 14, 2010 | |
John G. Walsh (acting) | August 15, 2010 | April 9, 2012 | |
Thomas J. Curry | April 9, 2012 | May 5, 2017 | |
Keith Noreika (acting) | May 5, 2017 | November 27, 2017 | |
Joseph Otting | November 27, 2017 | May 29, 2020 | |
Brian P. Brooks (acting) | May 29, 2020 | January 14, 2021 | |
Blake Paulson (acting) | January 14, 2021 | May 10, 2021 | |
Michael J. Hsu (acting) | May 10, 2021 | present |
See also
- Bank regulation in the United States
- Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations
- Volcker Rule
- List of financial regulatory authorities by jurisdiction
References
- ^ "Michael J. Hsu | OCC".
- ^ a b Van Loo, Rory (August 1, 2018). "Regulatory Monitors: Policing Firms in the Compliance Era". Faculty Scholarship: 14–15.
- ^ "Michael J. Hsu Statement to Agency Employees on Becoming Acting Comptroller of the Currency". August 1, 2018.
- ^ "Office of the Comptroller of the Currency About Us". OCC.gov. January 24, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
- ^ "Proposed Rules : Federal Register Vol 68 No. 150" (PDF). Edocket.access.gpo.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ [1] Archived October 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Watters v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 550 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court of the United States 2007).
- Cuomo v. Clearing House Association, L. L. C., 557 U.S. (Supreme Court of the United States2009).
- ^ "Help and Frequently Asked Questions about National Banks from OCC's". Helpwithmybank.gov. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ OCC (July 10, 2020). "Announces Project REACh to Promote Greater Access to Capital and Credit for Underserved Populations." Retrieved July 10, 2020.
- ^ a b "Founding of the OCC & the National Banking System". www.occ.treas.gov. January 14, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "1914 - 1935". www.occ.treas.gov. February 26, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-349-30470-7
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "You say comptroller, I say controller". Marketplace. May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
- ^ "Previous Comptrollers of the Currency". www.occ.gov. January 24, 2019.
External links
- Official website
- OCC in the Federal Register
- 12 CFR Chapter I of the Code of Federal Regulations from the LII
- 12 CFR Chapter I of the Code of Federal Regulations from the OFR