Joint Comments to the OCC on Permissible Bank Premises

Chief Counsel’s Office
Attention: Comment Processing
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
400 7th Street, SW, Suite 3E-218
Washington, D.C. 20219

To whom it may concern:

The Bank Policy Institute, the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America (the “Associations”) appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s notice of proposed rulemaking regarding national bank and Federal savings association premises.

If adopted, the Proposal would abandon a long-standing, well-established approach to evaluating “bank occupied premises” based on consideration of all the facts and circumstances of a bank’s particular facility, building or land. Instead, the Proposal would prescribe a one-size-fits-all set of rules to evaluate bank premises and would eliminate the principles-based approach that has been in place for decades.

As explained in more detail below, in the absence of any demonstration that the current approach has been defective and in light of the challenges of the pandemic and the uncertainties presented by expected changes to the post-pandemic work and business environments, we strongly recommend that the OCC withdraw the Proposal. If in the future the OCC determines that changes to its premises regulations should be implemented, the OCC should propose changes after there has been an opportunity to evaluate the impact of a post-pandemic working environment on banks’ premises needs.

Notwithstanding our strong recommendation that the Proposal be withdrawn and that consideration of any changes to the OCC’s premises regulations be postponed, we have included below a number of recommended changes to the Proposal’s approach.

Download the comment letter to read the full text.