[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 222 (Friday, November 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-28400]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 18, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

12 CFR Part 8

[Docket No. 94-19]
RIN 1557-AB41

 

Assessment of Fees; National Banks; District of Columbia Banks

AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury.

ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is 
amending its regulation governing assessments and fees by removing the 
specific calculation of fees for examinations of fiduciary activities, 
special examinations and investigations, examinations of affiliates and 
examinations and investigations of corporate activities (hereinafter, 
trust and other examinations and investigations). This interim rule is 
intended to give the OCC the ability to reduce rates for trust and 
other examinations and investigations from the level set forth in the 
current regulation. The OCC will continue to include trust and other 
examination and investigation fees in the standard annual publication 
of fees.

DATES: This interim rule is effective on November 18, 1994; Comments 
must be received by January 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: Communications Division, 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 250 E Street SW, Washington, 
DC 20219, Attention: Docket No. 94-19. Comments will be available for 
inspection and photocopying at the same location.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy Madsen, Assistant Chief Financial 
Officer, Financial Review, Policy and Analysis, (202) 874-5130; or 
Patricia S. Grady, Senior Attorney, Legislative, Regulatory and 
International Activities, (202) 874-5090, Office of the Comptroller of 
the Currency, Washington, DC 20219.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Under the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. 1 et seq., the OCC is 
responsible for supervising national banks and ensuring their 
compliance with applicable law. Pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 482, the 
Comptroller of the Currency may impose and collect assessments, fees, 
or other charges as necessary or appropriate to carry out the 
responsibilities of the office of the Comptroller. The OCC's 
supervisory responsibilities include trust and other examinations and 
investigations, for which the OCC assesses a fee.
    Dating from 1956, 12 U.S.C. 482 required the OCC to assess all 
national banks exercising fiduciary powers and all banks or trust 
companies in the District of Columbia exercising fiduciary powers a fee 
adequate to cover the expense of such examinations. The OCC revised 12 
CFR 8.6 in 1984 to ensure that the fees were adjusted regularly to 
cover the expenses of conducting examinations of fiduciary activities. 
Prior to 1984, the OCC charged a fixed fee, that over time did not 
adequately cover the expenses of fiduciary examinations.
    The current version of Sec. 8.6 contains a specific calculation for 
trust and other examinations and investigations. This calculation is 
used to recover the total costs of conducting trust and other 
examinations and investigations. The calculation includes the number of 
hours OCC employees spend on an examination or investigation multiplied 
by an hourly fee. The components of the hourly fee are direct costs, 
billable hours, and an indirect cost rate. The direct costs include 
projected salary, benefits, and travel expenses. The indirect cost rate 
is a ratio of total indirect costs to total direct costs for the entire 
OCC.
    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 
(FDICIA) (Pub. L. 102-242) changed 12 U.S.C. 482 by, among other 
things, removing the specific requirement for a fee adequate to recover 
expenses of examinations of fiduciary activities. FDICIA authorizes OCC 
to impose and collect assessments, fees, and other charges as necessary 
or appropriate to carry out its responsibilities. FDICIA gave OCC 
increased flexibility to set such assessments, fees, and other charges 
to meet its expenses for carrying out authorized activities. Since 
FDICIA became effective, the specific calculation in Sec. 8.6 is no 
longer necessary.
    As FDICIA recognized, the manner in which national banks conduct 
fiduciary activities and the relationship of those activities to other 
bank operations has changed substantially in recent years, warranting 
more flexibility in the OCC's authority to charge for supervising those 
activities. The OCC's current fee structure for fiduciary activities 
reflects a view of those activities as special and separate from other 
bank operations. That is no longer the case today, as many banks' 
fiduciary activities are integral parts of a range of financial 
products and services provided bank customers. Accordingly, the OCC has 
concluded that it should revise its regulation for trust and other 
examinations and investigations to better utilize the flexibility 
provided by FDICIA and to reduce the fees currently charged for trust 
and other examinations and investigations.

Changes Made by the Interim Rule

    This interim rule removes the specific calculation in Sec. 8.6 to 
provide the OCC with the flexibility to charge for trust and other 
examinations and investigations using methods other than those 
currently found in Sec. 8.6, and to reduce fees. This interim rule 
refers the reader to the OCC Banking Issuance, ``Notice of the 
Comptroller of the Currency Fees'', in which virtually all other OCC 
fees are published. Eliminating the specific formula in the regulation 
for calculating fees for trust and other examinations and 
investigations, as well as the requirement that fees be set to recover 
total costs, allows the OCC more flexibility to determine fees for 
trust and other examinations and investigations and conform the 
treatment of those fees with other fees published in the OCC Banking 
Issuance, ``Notice of the Comptroller of the Currency Fees.'' The OCC 
intends to use this flexibility to reduce fees for 1995.

Use of an Interim Rule

    The OCC has determined that there is good cause for adopting this 
interim rule immediately upon publication in the Federal Register 
without prior notice and comment. The interim rule confers a benefit on 
national banks by eliminating the inflexibility in the OCC's current 
fee calculation for trust and other examinations and investigations and 
enabling the OCC to reduce these fees for 1995. Therefore, because the 
interim rule provides a mechanism for the OCC to reduce fees, adoption 
with notice and comment 30 days after publication is unnecessary and 
contrary to the public interest. The OCC will continue to inform banks 
of those fees by publishing a schedule of fees related to trust and 
other examinations and investigations in the OCC Banking Issuance, 
``Notice of Comptroller of the Currency Fees.'' The Notice will be 
published December 1, 1994, and will be effective January 1, 1995. The 
immediate effective date of this interim rule ensures that fee 
reductions in this area for 1995 will be implemented beginning January 
1, 1995.
    Additionally, this interim rule involves agency practice and 
procedure. The determination as to how fees will be assessed is 
internal to the OCC, since the Comptroller is required to recover 
expenses, but is not required to follow specific calculations or 
formulas when determining fees. As a result, the fee structure may be 
revised as necessary to meet OCC expenses. Although the OCC is not 
required to provide notice and public comment nor is it required to 
provide a 30-day delayed effective date under the Administrative 
Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A) and (d)(3), the OCC invites comment 
on any aspect of this interim rule, and on particular approaches the 
OCC should consider for its fiduciary activities examination fee 
structure. If the OCC proposes to implement a new approach to trust 
fees different from the reduction in rates it now contemplates, such as 
a separate trust assessment for those banks with fiduciary activities; 
or if the OCC proposes to increase fees for trust and other 
examinations and investigations, the OCC will seek appropriate public 
comment on the change at that time.

Executive Order 12866

    The OCC has determined that this document is not a significant 
regulatory action.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    It is hereby certified that this regulation will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required. This 
interim rule has no substantial impact on banks regardless of size. The 
OCC anticipates that the changes made by this interim rule will have no 
appreciable impact on the financial stability of banks.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 8

    Assessments, Fees, National banks.

Authority and Issuance

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, part 8 of chapter I of 
title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as set forth 
below:

PART 8--ASSESSMENT OF FEES; NATIONAL BANKS; DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
BANKS

    1. The authority citation for part 8 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 93a, 481, 482 and 3102; 15 U.S.C. 78c and 
1; and 26 D.C. Code 102.

    2. Section 8.6 is revised to read as follows:


Sec. 8.6  Fees for fiduciary activities examinations, special 
examinations and investigations fees, examination of affiliates, 
examinations related to corporate activities.

    (a) Fees. Pursuant to the authority contained in 12 U.S.C. 481 and 
482, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency assesses a fee for 
examining fiduciary activities of national and District of Columbia 
banks and related entities, for conducting special examinations and 
investigations of national and District of Columbia banks, for 
conducting examinations of affiliates of national and District of 
Columbia banks, and for conducting examinations and investigations made 
pursuant to 12 CFR Part 5, Rules, Policies, and Procedures for 
Corporate Activities.
    (b) Notice of Comptroller of the Currency Fees. The OCC publishes 
the fee schedule for fiduciary activities, special examinations and 
investigations, examinations of affiliates and examinations related to 
corporate activities in the Notice of Comptroller of the Currency Fees 
described in Sec. 8.8.

    Dated: November 2, 1994.
Eugene A. Ludwig,
Comptroller of the Currency.
[FR Doc. 94-28400 Filed 11-17-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-33-P