OCC planning large reduction in bank assessment fees

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is planning a dramatic reduction in assessment fees.

The OCC is planning a 40% reduction in assessments for a bank’s first $200 million of assets, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said during prepared remarks to the Texas Bankers Association.

The agency will lower the assessment for bank assets between $200 million and $20 billion by 20%. The changes will become effective next March. 

Hsu said the effort will lower assessments for community banks by $41.3 million in 2023. The OCC, which identified ways to operate more efficiently, lowered assessments by 23% from 2019 to 2021. 

“The OCC is proactively working to close the pricing differential between state and federal charter assessments,” Hsu said. 

“The purpose of this adjustment is to level the playing field with the cost of supervision compared to state community bank charters,” he added. “The recalibration will not reduce the quality of OCC supervision or the resources available to community banks.”