NR 99-52
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      
Contact:       Kevin M. Mukri      (202) 874-5348
June 7, 1999                                                      
                                                    

            OCC Agreements with State Insurance Departments 
                         will Benefit Consumers

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and state
insurance regulators today expanded their efforts to share
information concerning customer complaints that may arise in
connection with sales of insurance by banks.  The OCC and the
insurance departments of eight states agreed to share information
about consumer complaints relating to sales of insurance products
in these eight  states by national banking companies.  The eight
agreements between the OCC and the individual state insurance
departments also call for the agencies to communicate with each
other on matters of common interest, such as regulatory and
policy initiatives.

The OCC signed separate agreements with the insurance departments
of Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, North Dakota,
North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.  The "Agreements in Principle"
result from discussions between the OCC and the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).  Earlier today, at
its 1999 Summer National Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, the
NAIC approved the model agreement on which these eight agreements
are based.  

"The OCC and state insurance departments share a common interest
in insurance sales activities by national banks," said
Comptroller John D. Hawke, Jr.  "We welcome the agreements to
further cooperative efforts and communication between the OCC and
these state insurance officials to enhance consumer protection
and assure compliance with appropriate insurance sales
standards."

The agreement calls for the OCC to forward to the insurance
departments a copy of any complaint that it receives relating to
the sale of insurance products in the state by a national banking
company.  The insurance departments will forward a copy of any
complaint they receive involving a national banking company to
the OCC.  The complaints will be forwarded to the other agency as
soon as practicable after receipt of the complaint.  Except for a
legitimate regulatory or supervisory purpose, confidentiality of
all shared information will be maintained.

"We are pleased that eight additional states have entered into
these cooperative agreements with the OCC," said Julie L.
Williams, OCC Chief Counsel.  "We look forward to continuing and
expanding  cooperative efforts with the NAIC and to entering into
similar agreements with other states."

Samuel P. Golden, OCC Ombudsman, signed the agreements on behalf
of the OCC.  The  Customer Assistance Group, headed by Mr.
Golden, will administer the implementation of the agreements with
the insurance departments.

The OCC now has agreements with nine states. The OCC and the
Oklahoma Insurance Department signed a similar agreement in
December 1998.

These agreements do not restrict, enlarge, or otherwise modify
any of the respective agency's jurisdictions. 

                                   # # #
The OCC charters, regulates and examines approximately 2,600 national banks
and 66 federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States,
accounting for 58 percent of the nation's banking assets.  Its mission is to
ensure a safe, sound and competitive national banking system that supports the
citizens, communities and economy of the United States.