ABSTRACT
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) was established in 1863 by the National Currency Act, which was superseded by the National Bank Act in 1864. The OCC charters, supervises, and examines national banks. For operating funds, OCC and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation rely on fees charged to banks under their jurisdiction and income from investments in US government securities, while Federal Reserve System relies solely on income from investments in US government securities. Congress had made it known that it wanted the General Accounting Office (GAO) to examine the bank supervisory agencies, although it had not enacted legislation granting the GAO statutory right of access to the agencies' records. The main finding of the GAO report on federal bank supervision was that some bank failures may have been avoided if the federal regulatory agencies had forced policy changes at problem banks rather than accept promises from management that were often unfulfilled.
