OCC Finalizes Receivership Framework for Uninsured National Banks

The OCC today issued a final rule establishing a framework for how the agency will handle receiverships for national banks not insured by the FDIC, such as trust banks and other special purpose charters. The rule, which was adopted as proposed, implements provisions of the National Banking Act governing such receiverships.

The framework parallels the approach used by the FDIC, and covers the appointment of a receiver, resources available to the receiver, public notice, handling and prioritization of claims, receiver powers related to fiduciary and custodial accounts, distribution to shareholders and termination of receivership. In the preamble to the rule, the OCC acknowledged the fundamental differences in business models between national trust banks and consumer and commercial banks and savings associations, a distinction ABA highlighted in its comments on the proposal.

The OCC supervises 52 uninsured national trust banks and has not put an uninsured bank into receivership since the Great Depression. However, as the agency moves forward with its plan to grant special-purpose national bank charters to fintech companies, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry earlier this month noted the importance of having a formal receivership process in place. For more information, contact ABA’s Phoebe Papageorgiou.