Background
A bank
formally appealed the OCC's right to retain the full semiannual
assessment fee for the period of January 1 through June 30
since the bank converted to a state chartered commercial bank on
January 1.
Discussion
The bank
requested a full refund of its semiannual assessment because the
supervisory responsibility shifted from the OCC to the state on
January 1 and therefore no supervisory activities would be conducted
by the OCC during the period covered by the assessment.
The ombudsman
reviewed OCC regulations regarding payment of semiannual assessment
fees. According to
paragraph (5) under section (a) of 12 CFR 8 Assessment of Fees,
"Each bank subject to the jurisdiction of the Comptroller of the
Currency on the date of the second or fourth quarterly Call Report
required by the OCC under 12 USC 161 is subject to the full
assessment for the next six-month period." The OCC assessment is levied
against all institutions that are in the national banking system as
of December 31st and June 30th. Therefore, any bank that is
a national bank on the assessment date is required to pay the
full semiannual assessment for the upcoming six-month period.
Conclusion
After careful
review of OCC regulations, and finding no basis for an exception,
the ombudsman determined that no refund was due to the bank.
