Corporate Applications:

December 2008

Vol. 21, No. 12

IN THIS ISSUE:

Interpretive Letters

Letter No.	Topic
1103	Letter sets forth the OCC's opinion that Bank is authorized under federal law to be appointed, and accept any appointment, to act in a fiduciary capacity permitted to state fiduciaries in North Carolina without obtaining any express qualification or otherwise qualifying under North Carolina law. 09/18/2008
1104	Letter approves use of an alternative approach to calculate a bank's risk-based capital requirement for certain loans to customers for the purpose of buying or carrying margin stock. Under the alternative approach, the bank would assign a 10% risk weight to the principal amount of such loans. Eligible bank margin loans must satisfy the following conditions: (1) the securities collateral of such loans are liquid and readily marketable; (2) the loans and associated collateral are marked to market daily; (3) the loans are subject to the initial margin requirements under Regulation T and daily margin maintenance requirements under NYSE Rule 431; and (4) the bank has conducted a sufficient legal review to conclude that it would be able to liquidate the collateral for the loans without undue delay, even in the event of the borrower's bankruptcy or insolvency. 09/18/2008
1105	Letter approves use of the value-at-risk (VAR) approach to calculate a bank's risk-based capital for securities lending and conduit securities lending transactions. To be an eligible transaction, the bank must be acting as agent or intermediary in a riskless principal transaction; the transaction must be fully collateralized; any securities borrowed, lent or taken as collateral are eligible for inclusion in the trading book and are liquid and readily marketable; any securities borrowed, lent or taken as collateral are marked-to-market daily; and the transactions are subject to daily margin maintenance requirements. Before the bank may use the VAR approach to determine its risk-based capital requirements for these transactions, the OCC Examiner-in-Charge must make a determination that the bank's VAR model and risk management practices comply with certain specified conditions. The bank also will be subject to ongoing supervisory review of its model. 09/18/2008
1106	Letter sets forth the OCC's opinion that Bank is authorized under federal law to conduct fiduciary activities in the states of Georgia and South Carolina notwithstanding state laws that purport to limit the bank's ability to do so by requiring, among other things, that the bank be federally-insured and have a physical presence in the state. Letter also concludes that the bank may deposit the amount of securities required pursuant to federal law and the OCC's regulations rather than a conflicting amount required under Florida law. 10/10/2008
1107	Letter concludes that in order to use abundance of caution exception in real estate appraisal regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 34.43(a)(2), borrower's ability to repay must be well-supported by income or collateral other than real estate. Reaffirms position in Interpretive Letter No. 569 that indirect real estate lending, e.g., taking as collateral promissory notes that are secured by real estate, is subject to the appraisal regulation. 12/04/2008

Corporate Decisions

Letter No.	Topic
2008-08	Application for U.S. Bank, National Association, Cincinnati, Ohio to acquire assets and liabilities from PFF Bank & Trust, Rancho Cucamonga, California (Control Number 2008 CE 02 38), 11/21/2008
2008-09	Application for U.S. Bank, National Association, Cincinnati, Ohio to acquire assets and liabilities from Downey Savings and Loan Association, F.A., New Port Beach, California (Control Number 2008 CE 02 38), 11/21/2008
2008-10	Charter application submitted for ExTran International Bank, N.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Control Number 2008 SO 01 0009), 11/05/2008

Approvals with condition enforceable under 12 U.S.C. 1818

Letter No.	Topic
885	Applications by Bank of America, National Association, Charlotte, North Carolina for a material noncash capital contribution to surplus and to reduce permanent capita (Control Numbers 2008 ML 12 0230 and 0231), 11/06/2008
886	Application by Banco Popular, National Association, Orlando, Florida, for a change in the composition of its assets and the application to merge Banco Popular, National Association into Popular North America, Inc. (Control Numbers 2008 SO 12 0203 & 02004), 11/14/2008

Final Enforcement Actions

Enclosed is a copy of the OCC's news release number 2008-149, announcing the availability of enforcement actions. Copies of the final actions are available by writing to the OCC, Public Information Room, Mail Stop 1-5, Washington, D.C. 20219. When ordering, specify the appropriate enforcement action number.

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Performance Evaluations

Enclosed is a list of CRA performance evaluations that became public during the period of November 15, 2008 through December 14, 2008.

PLEASE NOTE: Interpretive Letters and No-Objection Letters reflect the views of the Comptroller's legal staff. Corporate Decisions, CRA Decisions and Conditional Approvals are from the office of Licensing. The Community Development Investment Letters are from the office of Community Affairs. The list of CRA Ratings is from the Communications Division. For copies of the CRA evaluations, you may either contact the bank directly, or you may write to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in any of three ways: by mail to the OCC, Attn: Public Information Room, Mail Stop 1-5, Washington, D.C. 20219; by fax to (202) 874-4448; or by e-mail to FOIA-PA@occ.treas.gov. You may also write to the OCC for copies of enforcement actions and charters with standard conditions.

Members of the news media are encouraged to cite the letter number when reporting or summarizing documents from this package. This helps us to process single requests based upon your citation in a timelier manner.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency publishes INTERPRETATIONS AND ACTIONS monthly. Subscriptions are available at a rate of $175 per year by writing to the Comptroller of the Currency, ATTN: Accounts Receivable, Mail Stop 4-8, 250 E Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20219. Prepayment is requested. Suggestions, comments or questions may be sent to Jacqueline J. England, Comptroller of the Currency, Communications Division, Mail Stop 3-2, Washington, DC 20219.