Interpretations and Actions: October 2006

Vol. 19, No. 10

Interpretive Letters

Letter No.	Topic
1069	Letter concludes that a national bank and its operating subsidiaries are authorized, pursuant to 12 USC 24(7), 12 USC 371, and 12 CFR 7.4002, to charge expedited service fees for loan payoff information. 08/21/2006
1070	Letter concludes that a national bank may acquire and hold two classes of certificates, one rated investment grade and one unrated, issued by a trust under a tender option bond structure as Type III investment securities, provided the bank can demonstrate that the unrated certificate is the credit equivalent of investment grade. The letter also concludes that the bank also may acquire the certificates under the authority in 12 U.S.C. § 24(Seventh) to discount and negotiate evidences of debt, subject to the limitations of 12 U.S.C. § 84 and the requirements of Banking Circular 181 (Rev.). 09/06/2006
1071	Letter concludes a national bank may participate as a member in several regional Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs) in order to execute electricity derivatives transactions that the OCC previously has found to be permissible for the bank, subject to the limitations set forth in 12 U.S.C. § 84 and 12 C.F.R. Part 32 and any additional limitations imposed by the bank's examiner-in-charge (EIC). The bank also is required notify its EIC and receive written notification of the EIC's supervisory non-objection before becoming a member of an ISO or RTO. 09/06/2006
1072	Letter concludes that it would be permissible under 12 USC 29 for bank to enter into a long-term ground lease with unrelated third party of property that it has owned and used as bank premises for three decades. 09/15/2006

CRA Decisions

Letter No.	Topic
136	Application by JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, to acquire certain assets and assume certain deposits from The Bank of New York (Control Number 2006 ML 02 0004), 09/15/2006
137	Application to expand the scope of activities of HSBC Trust Company (Delaware), National Association, Wilmington, Delaware (Control Number 2006 NE 12 111), 09/29/2006

Corporate Decisions

Letter No.	Topic
2006-10	Application by Hemisphere National Bank, Miami, Florida, to purchase substantially all of the assets and assume substantially all of the liabilities of PineBank, National Association, Miami, Florida (Control Number 2006 SO 02 0032), 09/12/2006
2006-11	Application by PNC Bank, National Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for prior approval to have qualify as Tier 1 capital minority interests created as a result of the sale of perpetual preferred Series A securities to an outside investor (Control Number 2006 NE 12 0204), 09/14/2006
2006-12	Application to reorganize First National Bank of Baldwin County, Foley, Alabama, to become a subsidiary of a bank holding company (Control Number 2006 SO 12 0266), 09/19/2006
2006-13	Application by Citibank, National Association, New York, New York, to assume the uninsured deposit liabilities of Citibank International and to establish a branch in Houston, Texas (Control Numbers 2006 ML 02 0015 and 2006 ML 05 0384), 09/26/2006

Approvals with Conditions Enforceable under 12 U.S.C. 1818

Letter No.	Topic
757	Application to establish a new national bank with the title of "Embassy National Bank," Lawrenceville, Georgia (Control Number 2006 SO 01 0009), 09/05/2006
758	Application to establish a new national bank with the title of "First Avenue National Bank," Ocala, Florida (Control Number 2006 SO 01 0001), 09/11/2006
759	Application by PineBank, National Association, Miami, Florida, for a change in the composition of its assets and to merge PineBank, National Association into Omega USA, Inc., Miami, Florida (Control Numbers 2006 SO 12 0230 and 2006 SO 12 0231), 09/12/2006
760	Application to establish a new national bank with the title of "Icon Bank of Texas, National Association," Houston, Texas (Control Number 2006 SO 01 0001), 09/14/2006
761	Application to establish a new national bank with the title of "The PrivateBank, National Association," Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Control Number 2006 CE 01 009), 09/18/2006
762	Application to establish a new national bank with the title of "West Valley National Bank," Avondale, Arizona (Control Number 2006 WE 01 0013), 09/22/2006

Final Enforcement Actions

Enclosed is a copy of the OCC's news release number 2006-114, 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 September 14 through October 14, 2006.

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 email 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 $200 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.