OCC 2003-16
OCC BULLETIN	

Subject:      Changes to Part 5
Description:  Interim Rule

Date:         May 7, 2003
 
TO:  Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks, Federal 
Branches and Agencies, Department and Division Heads, and All 
Examining Personnel

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published the 
attached interim rule in the Federal Register on April 14, 2003, 
with a request for comments, amending its rules, policies, and 
procedures for corporate activities.  The effective date of the 
interim rule is April 14, 2003.  

Electronic Filings  The interim rule amends 12 CFR 5.2 to expressly 
provide that the OCC may permit national banks to make any class of 
filings electronically and refers national banks to the Comptroller’s 
Licensing Manual to find information about the filings that are 
available for electronic submission.  Beginning in March 2003, all 
national banks may use the OCC’s Web-based electronic applications 
to submit electronically certain types of corporate filings to the 
OCC for approval.  Currently those filings include separate 
applications to:  establish a branch, relocate a branch, relocate a 
main office within a 30-mile radius (within current city, town, or 
village limits), and relocate a main office within a 30-mile radius 
(outside current city, town, or village limits).    

Other Changes to Part 5  The interim rule amends section 5.2(b), 
which provides that, after giving appropriate notice to the 
applicant and, at the OCC’s discretion, to others, the OCC may 
adopt materially different procedures for a particular filing, or a 
class of filings, in exceptional circumstances, such as natural 
disasters or unusual transactions.  The example of natural disasters 
may be misleading and has been removed.  Thus, section 5.2(b) simply 
permits the OCC to adopt materially different procedures in 
exceptional circumstances or for unusual transactions.  The interim 
rule also makes technical changes to section 5.2 to reflect the 
recent replacement of the Comptroller’s Corporate Manual with the 
Comptroller’s Licensing Manual and to inform national banks that 
the manual is available on the OCC’s Internet Web site.

For further information, contact Jean Campbell, attorney, 
Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division at (202) 874-5090; 
or Darrell Sheets, licensing data manager, Licensing, Policy and 
Systems Division at (202) 874-5060.



__________________________________________ 
Julie L. Williams
First Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel


Attachment – 68 FR 17890
[http://www.occ.treas.gov/fr/fedregister/68fr17890.pdf]