OCC Issues Interim Final Rule to Reissue Former OTS Regulations

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is issuing today an Interim Final Rule with request for comments that republishes regulations issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision that the OCC has authority to promulgate and enforce as of today.  The rule is effective today and will be published in the Federal Register on August 9.  The comment period will close on October 11.

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the OCC today assumed responsibility from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) for the ongoing examination, supervision, and regulation of federal savings associations and rulemaking for all savings associations, state and federal.

This rule renumbers and issues these former OTS regulations as new OCC regulations, with nomenclature and other technical amendments to reflect OCC supervision of federal savings associations. These newly issued OCC regulations will supersede OTS regulations for purposes of OCC supervision of federal savings associations, as provided by the Act.

In order to reduce confusion and to assist the thrift industry, the OCC has preserved where possible in these new rules the OTS’s numbering system. For example, 12 CFR part 545 is republished as 12 CFR part 145. The preamble to the interim final rule contains a redesignation table indicating how the newly issued OCC rules correspond to the former OTS rules. OTS regulations in Chapter V of Title 12 that will be unnecessary following the transfer date, or that are superseded by this rulemaking or other provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, will be repealed at a later date.

Because the Act also transfers OTS functions related to the supervision of state savings associations to the FDIC and savings association holding companies to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the OCC has worked closely with the OTS, FDIC, and the Board to coordinate the republication of these former OTS rules.

This interim final rule is part of a larger OCC review of OCC and OTS regulations to determine what changes are needed for the transition to OCC supervision of federal savings associations. As a continuation of this review, the OCC will consider more comprehensive substantive amendments to these regulations, as appropriate, later this year.

Related Link

• Interim Final Rule (PDF)