Title 12 USC 85 regulates the maximum rate of interest that national banks may charge on most types of loans. Banks that charge a higher rate violate the law and may trigger the penalties for usury described in 12 USC 86.

Since the 1970s, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency "OCC" has reviewed compliance with various consumer protection laws by national banks, their subsidiaries, federal branches, and federal agencies of foreign banks.

The OCC charters, regulates, and supervises national bank to ensure a safe, sound, and competitive national banking system that supports the citizens, communities, and economy of United States.

Financial institutions and their customers are recognizing a growing need tomanage cash resources more efficiently. Economic and financial factors, together with improved data communications and computer technology, haveincreased demand for electronic funds transfer (EFT) services from the financialindustry. EFT is defined as: any transfer of funds which is initiated through anelectronic terminal, telephonic instrument, computer, or magnetic tape so as toorder, instruct, or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account

This booklet provides an overview of personal fiduciary services, their associated risks, and a framework for managing those risks. It applies to personal accounts administered by a national bank in a fiduciary capacity as defined by 12 CFR Part 9, Fiduciary Activities of National Banks.

The OCC is committed to bank supervision policies and procedures that support promptdetection and mitigation of problems before they affect a bank's viability. In the event a bank'scondition is so severe that it is no longer viable, the OCC will collaborate with the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and other regulators to achieve a timely final resolution ina manner that will result in the least cost to the deposit insurance fund. This booklet providesguidance toward those objectives and is intended primarily as a reference tool for OCC fieldexaminers.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conducted its 18th annual "Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices" to identify trends in lending standards and credit risk for the most common types of commercial and retail credit offered by national banks and federal savings associations. Federal savings associations (FSA) are included for the first time in this year's survey. Results for national banks and FSAs were generally consistent; therefore, results are presented in aggregate across both institution types. The survey covers the 12-month period ending February 29, 2012.

Credit risk is the primary financial risk in the banking system and exists invirtually all income-producing activities. How a bank selects and manages itscredit risk is critically important to its performance over time; indeed, capitaldepletion through loan losses has been the proximate cause of mostinstitution failures. Identifying and rating credit risk is the essential first stepin managing it effectively.

Each national bank must submit to the Office of the Comptroller of theCurrency (OCC) various reports revealing its financial condition or the resultsof its operations. This information, which is reported for regulatory purposes, isalso available for public disclosure to enable investors, depositors, andcreditors to better assess the financial condition of the bank. In addition, information from several of those reports is used in the Uniform BankPerformance Report (UBPR) which detects unusual or significant changes in abank's financial condition as of reporting dates

This booklet is designed as a reference tool and examination guide to assist bankers and examiners in understanding the various types of related organizations, risks that may be associated with these organizations, and the responsibilities of a bank's board of directors and management to institute strong and effective corporate practices governing the bank's relationships with these organizations.