In a surprise announcement today at a mutual bank virtual forum co-hosted by the FDIC and OCC, a Federal Reserve official announced that the Federal Reserve has, via interpretive letter, determined that OCC-regulated savings associations that choose to exercise the option to become a “covered savings association” under Section 206 of the 2018 S. 2155 regulatory reform law will now be treated as national banks for purposes of regulation by the Federal Reserve.
This will, among other things, mean that any covered savings association that has a mutual bank holding company will be required to convert that holding company to a bank holding company. There may be further implications that could come from such an interpretation; however, the American Bankers Association believes that this interpretation is not consistent with the intent of the statute and is seeking clarification from the Fed.
