Created by the National Currency Act of 1863 to charter a uniform national banking system. Its examiners are permanently stationed inside the largest banks, and its charter decisions shape which companies may call themselves banks.
Open the interactive page for OCC →Created byNational Currency Act of Feb. 25, 1863 (12 Stat. 665), reenacted as the National Bank Act of June 3, 1864
Head appointed12 U.S.C. § 2: Comptroller of the Currency appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a 5-year term (PAS)
Removal standardnot for-cause, but a reasons-to-Senate formula — 12 U.S.C. § 2: serves 5 years 'unless sooner removed by the President, upon reasons to be communicated by him to the Senate'
Funded undernot appropriated — 12 U.S.C. § 16: assessments and fees on national banks and federal savings associations; funds 'shall not be construed to be Government funds or appropriated monies' and are not subject to apportionment (Dodd-Frank § 318)
Congressional oversightHouse Committee on Financial Services · Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Inspector generalTreasury OIG (PAS IG under 5 U.S.C. ch. 4) covers OCC; TIGTA covers only IRS matters
Judicial reviewEnforcement orders under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act reviewed directly in U.S. courts of appeals (12 U.S.C. § 1818(h)(2)); rules and charter/licensing decisions via APA § 702; examination reports shielded by FOIA Exemption 8 (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(8))
Comment on proposed rules and on bank-merger applications; file Community Reinvestment Act comments on how banks serve your area; vote for the Senate, which confirms the Comptroller.