meta_id 3247442

On June 17, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) clarified the standards governing its decisions on filings submitted under 12 CFR 5.13. The OCC may approve, conditionally approve, or deny a filing, or return it as materially deficient if it lacks sufficient information for the OCC to make a determination under applicable statutory or regulatory criteria. The OCC emphasized that filings must contain all necessary information in the initial submission to enable proper evaluation. The OCC will return a materially deficient filing without a decision if it finds the submission incomplete. This includes failure to furnish required biographical and financial information for individuals, corporate background and financial reports for entities, or any information requested by the filing form. Additionally, the OCC may return a filing as materially deficient if responses to additional information requests do not sufficiently address the agency's concerns. For de novo charter applications, organizers must demonstrate that all products and services are defined with particularity, including operationalization plans, and must fully define associated governance, risk management, and compliance management infrastructure. The OCC approves filings when applicants favorably meet appropriate statutory, regulatory, and policy criteria. The OCC may condition approvals to ensure safe and sound operations consistent with OCC policy and applicable laws. The OCC denies filings when significant supervisory, Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), or compliance concerns exist, when approval would be inconsistent with law, regulation, or OCC policy, or when applicants fail to provide requested information. The OCC will notify denied applicants in writing of denial reasons and will make all denial decisions public to provide industry awareness of how decision criteria are applied. Applicants may submit subsequent applications following denial. Related guidance appears in OCC Bulletin 2026-27, "Filing Decision Process."