To avoid delays during the coronavirus crisis, national banks and federal savings associations are being advised to use electronic methods for submitting licensing filings to their federal regulator, the agency said Friday.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in a bulletin to all supervised institutions (OCC Bulletin 2020-20), said it “strongly recommends” use of electronic methods for submitting licensing filings during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.“ Submission of a licensing filing in paper form may result in delays in processing. “To avoid any such delays, the OCC strongly recommends that licensing filings be submitted through the Central Application Tracking System (CATS) or through the agency’s secure email system,” the OCC said.
“If a bank is unable to file by one of these two electronic methods, it may submit the filing in paper to the appropriate licensing district office,” the OCC advised. “If using this method of submission, the bank must contact the appropriate licensing district office by phone or email to alert them that a paper filing will be forthcoming via mail or other delivery method.”