As part of a review required by the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is proposing to revise some of its rules to remove outdated or otherwise unnecessary provisions.

The OCC is proposing to revise certain licensing rules related to chartering applications, business combinations involving federal mutual savings associations, and notices for changes in permanent capital. It also wants to:

• 'clarify' the requirements that govern the oaths of national bank directors;
• revise certain fiduciary activity requirements for national banks and federal savings associations, increasing the asset size limit for mini-funds;
• remove certain financial disclosure requirements for national banks;
• remove certain unnecessary regulatory reporting, accounting, and management policy requirements for federal savings associations;
• revise the 'electronic activities' provisions for federal savings associations;
• integrate and update OCC rules for national banks and federal savings associations relating to municipal securities dealers, Securities Exchange Act disclosure rules, and securities offering disclosure rules, also providing for the electronic submission of required filings and applying the less burdensome national bank rule to federal savings associations;
• update and revise record-keeping and confirmation requirements for national banks’ and federal savings associations’ securities transactions;
• integrate and update rules relating to insider and affiliate transactions; and
• make other changes.

Comments must be received on or before 13 May. The Act of 1996 requires the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to review their regulations every 10 years to identify outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations applicable to insured depository institutions.