OCC Reduces Assessments for Regulated Banks and Savings Associations

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced it will reduce assessments on national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks for 2019.

The change—which takes effect with the March 31, 2019, assessment—will reduce the marginal rates in its General Assessment Fee Schedule by 10 percent. The agency anticipates the change will reduce total assessments collected by the agency by more than $90 million in 2019. The reduction in marginal rates reflects cost savings in the OCC’s operations and projections of the OCC’s costs and revenue.

“We have a responsibility to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us, and as assets within the federal banking system have grown, so have the assessments collected by the agency,” said Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting. “The agency has demonstrated it can reduce its costs by operating more effectively and efficiently while still ensuring the federal banking system operates in a safe, sound, and fair manner.”

In addition to reducing its 2019 assessments, the agency also announced a change to its refund policy for institutions that leave the federal banking system during an assessment period. Under the new policy, if a bank leaves the federal banking system during the first half of a semiannual assessment period, the OCC will issue a refund to the bank for the second half of the bank’s semiannual assessment. If a bank leaves the federal banking system in the second half of the assessment period, no refund will be issued. The OCC is adopting this revised policy so that banks will not be required to pre-pay for three months of supervision after they are no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the OCC.

The National Bank Act and the Home Owners’ Loan Act authorize the Comptroller to recover the costs of the OCC’s operations through assessments, fees, and other charges on the institutions it supervises. The OCC reviews its assessments annually and issues a Notice of Fees and Assessments that sets forth the marginal assessment rates applicable to each asset-size bracket for each year, as well as other assessment components and fees.

Related Link

• Notice of Fees and Assessment