OCC Guidelines Establishing Heightened Standards for Certain Large Insured National Banks, Insured Federal Savings Associations, and Insured Federal Branches; Integration of Regulations

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is adopting guidelines, issued as an appendix to its safety and soundness standards regulations, establishing minimum standards for the design and implementation of a risk governance framework (Framework) for large insured national banks, insured Federal savings associations, and insured Federal branches of foreign banks (banks) with average total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and minimum standards for a board of directors in overseeing the Framework's design and implementation (final Guidelines). The standards contained in the final Guidelines will be enforceable by the terms of a Federal statute that authorizes the OCC to prescribe operational and managerial standards for national banks and Federal savings associations. In addition, as part of our ongoing efforts to integrate the regulations of the OCC and those of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the OCC is adopting final rules and guidelines that make its safety and soundness standards regulations and guidelines applicable to both national banks and Federal savings associations and that remove the comparable Federal savings association regulations and guidelines. The OCC is also adopting other technical changes to the safety and soundness standards regulations and guidelines.