OCC - Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

  • <WishList> - 1972 - OCC - Report to Congress, by Comptroller General of United States : Survey of Application of Government’s Policy on Self-Insurance

  • 1996 0812 - OCC - Credit Derivatives: Guidelines for National Banks, OCC Bulletin 1996-43 - [link]
    • Credit derivatives are new financial instruments marketed as an efficient way to manage credit exposure.
    • Credit derivatives permit the transfer of credit exposure between parties -- i.e., the buyer and seller of the credit protection -- in isolation from other forms of risk.
  • 1997 - OCC - Risk Management of Financial Derivatives - Comptroller’s Handbook - 190p
  • 1999 0625 - GOV (House) - Risky Business in the Operating Subsidiary: How the OCC Dropped the Ball, Fred Upton (R-MI) - [PDF-106p, VIDEO-?]   ---   [BonkNote]
  • 2010 01 - OCC - The Importance of Preserving a System of National Standards For National Banks - 21p
  • Interpretive Letters - Location "Interpretations and Actions" 
    • 1996 0913 - OCC - Interpretive Letter #749, October 1996
      12 U.S.C. 24(7) - 15p

      • This responds to your letter of July 10, 1996, requesting an opinion from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) confirming that 12 U.S.C. § 24(Seventh) preempts Texas insurance licensing laws that prevent or significantly interfere with a national bank’s authority to act as agent in the sale of annuities.
      • We believe that section 24(Seventh) does preempt Texas insurance licensing laws with respect to annuities sales by national banks to the extent that those laws prevent or impair the ability of national banks to exercise their authority under section 24(Seventh) to sell annuities. We do not believe that the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1012, insulates Texas law in this case for two reasons:
        • First, annuities are not “insurance” within the meaning of the Act.
        • Second, even if annuities were insurance for that purpose, laws that have the effect of negating or impairing the corporate powers of an entire class of entity -- in this case the authority of national banks to sell annuities -- are not laws “regulating the business of insurance” within the meaning of the McCarran-Ferguson Act. However, as we discuss below, this does not mean that all Texas law in this area is inapplicable to national banks.1
    • 1996 11 - OCC - Letter Approving First Union National Banks Notification of Intent to Establish Operating Subsidiaries to Engage in Insurance Activities - Interpretive Letter #753 - 15p
  • 1994 10 - LC - Nations Bank v VALIC - Ludwig
    • 12 As you know, however, insurance industry trade groups have filed suit in federal court challenging the OCC’s approval of the sale of fixed rate annuities by national bank operating subsidiaries. See Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. [VALIC] v. Clarke, 786 F. Supp. 639 (S.D. Tex. 1991); National Association of Life Underwriters v. Clarke, 761 F. Supp. 1285 (W.D. Tex. 1991). While the lower court decision in VALIC upheld the OCC’s approval, this case presently is on appeal.
    • The final resolution of this litigation could result in a different outcome and possibly affect the Partnership’s ability to engage is such activities.
  • Barrett
  • (p8) - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: Questions & Answers - Immediate Impact on OCC Supervision - governmentattic.org/42docs/VarOCCsupvMemos_2000-2020.pdf
    • Q6. Although I recognize states are the primary supervisor of insurance activities, I am troubled by the risk my bank is taking on in its bank insurance subsidiary.
      • Can I assess the risk that activity poses to the bank?
    • A6. Yes. Although the OCC has previously recognized the primary role of the States in the oversight of insurance, the OCC still has an interest in the risk assumed by national banks, regardless of source.
      • Therefore, examiners should still assess the consolidated risk profile of national banking companies providing insurance products, utilizing, to the extent possible, reports developed by the state insurance commissioner or other information available from bank management.
      • In performing such a review, examiners should focus on the effectiveness of bank systems for monitoring and controlling operational and financial risks and intercompany transactions, and its compliance with laws under our specific jurisdiction.