This booklet describes the fundamentals of accounts receivable and inventory financing. This booklet summarizes ARIF risks and discusses how a bank can prudently manage these risks.

Few retail consumer businesses can keep their doors open for long if they fail to attract and retain new customers. In the increasingly competitive financial services marketplace, banks and their nonbank competitors know well that today's overlooked business opportunities may be tomorrow's missed profits and may even threaten their viability.

This booklet explains the OCC's philosophy and methods for supervising national banks.1 It focuses on the entire supervisory process for all types of banks.2 This booklet integrates general supervisory policy for safety and soundness and specialty areas and includes in the appendix a consolidated reference for all uniform interagency rating systems. It also outlines bank supervision responsibilities and addresses how the OCC coordinates its supervision with other banking and functional regulators.

Today, the dual banking system, which has been a hallmark of banking in the United States for nearly 200 years, is under attack, as many states have attempted to assert legislative and enforcement authority over national banks in a way that contradicts constitutional principles that have been well-settled since the early nineteenth century.

A bank that provides asset management services for clients may be required to manage a variety of actual or potential conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest and self-dealing transactions normally arise whenever the bank's ability to act exclusively in the best interest of account beneficiaries or clients is impaired. A fiduciary is required by a long history of case law to put the interests of account beneficiaries before the interests of the bank. The fiduciary owes its beneficiaries undivided loyalty and must administer each trust for the exclusive benefit of account beneficiaries and...

Financial institutions increasingly do business abroad to diversify and expand their sources of revenue and profitability. This strategy exposes the bank to country risk and raises the potential for financial loss. Country risk is the risk that economic, social, and political conditions and events in a foreign country will affect an institution. To manage this risk, banks must institute adequate systems and controls over their international activities.

The Community Reinvestment Act encourages each insured depository institution covered by the act to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which it operates. The CRA requires that each federal financial supervisory agency assess the record of each covered depository institution in helping to meet the credit needs of its entire community.

The credit card has evolved over the last thirty years into one of the most accepted, convenient, and profitable financial products. It is accepted by millions of consumers and merchants worldwide as a routine means of payment for all varieties of products and services.

This booklet addresses the fundamentals of securities custody and related services, and provides guidance for examining those activities in national banks. One of a series of specialized asset management booklets in the Comptroller's Handbook, the booklet supplements the overall guidance in the "Asset Management Supervision" booklet as well as the "Large Bank Supervision" and "Community Bank Fiduciary Activities" booklets. For additional guidance on general asset management operations and controls, please refer to the Comptroller's Handbook for Asset Management. Please refer to this booklet's...

This booklet provides background information and optional expanded examination procedures for the following consumer protection regulations: Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions; Electronic Fund Transfers; Interest on Deposits; Expedited Funds Availability; and Truth in Savings. This booklet provides a synopsis of each regulation. Because the synopses are not comprehensive, users of this booklet should refer to each regulation for more detailed guidance and specific requirements."