The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for regulating the activities of state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System, bank holding companies, the U.S. operations of foreign banks, and Edge Act and Agreement corporations. The Board approves or denies applications for merger, acquisitions and changes in control by state member banks and bank holding companies and approves or denies applications for foreign operation of member banks. In addition, Congress selected the Federal Reserve to write regulations implementing a number of consumer protection laws such as truth in lending and equal credit opportunity. This has been an area of concern and compliance for BankBoston during its recent acquisition by Fleet Bank.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is the oldest federal banking regulatory agency. It has the authority to approve or deny applications for new national bank charters, for the establishment of branches, and for mergers of national banks. The principal supervisory tools of the OCC are on-site examination and ongoing analysis of national bank operations. The OCC issues rules and regulations concerning bank lending, bank investment, and other aspects of bank operations.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protects depositors of failed banks, promotes stability and maintains public confidence in the banking system. The FDIC directs two federal deposit insurance programs - the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF). The basic insured amount for a depositor is $100,000 at each insured financial institution. The BIF has created an insurance fund through income from investments in U.S. Government securities and from annual assessments paid by all insured commercial banks, certain federal and state savings banks, and industrial banks. The FDIC has the authority to examine insured financial institutions either directly or in cooperation with state or other federal authorities.