NR 2000-102	
		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			
		Contact:  Robert M. Garsson (202) 874-5770
		December 18, 2000				    


OCC Issues Statement on Bank Holdings of Securities for 
Hedge Purposes

WASHINGTON -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 
issued the following statement today in response to a report 
issued by Chairman Jim Leach of the House Committee on Banking 
and Financial Services on bank holdings of securities for hedge 
purposes:


All of the decisions at issue were carefully considered by the 
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from both a legal and a 
safety and soundness perspective.  Not only are they fully 
consistent with the law, but they reflect the OCC's commitment to 
assuring the competitiveness of national banks, consistent with 
safety and soundness principles.  Each of these decisions fully 
respects the traditional wall between banking and commerce and 
none involve the type of activity authorized as merchant banking 
under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.  The decisions at issue 
represent a handful of cases taken from decades of OCC 
precedents.

In those cases in which a formal opinion was not published, 
either the activity involved unique facts, or the scope of the 
OCC’s opinion was limited and it was not intended that the 
situations be viewed as precedents of general applicability. 

The OCC welcomes the opportunity to provide information about 
activities permissible for national banks and maintains an 
extensive and regular program of publication and Internet 
postings of legal and corporate precedents.  

We very much regret any misimpressions that may have developed 
and we welcome the inquiries Chairman Leach has asked for and the 
opportunity to respond.

# # #

The OCC charters, regulates and examines approximately 2,200 national banks and 
56 federal branches of foreign banks in the U.S., accounting for more than 55 
percent of the nation’s banking assets. Its mission is to ensure a safe and 
sound and competitive national banking system that supports the citizens, 
communities and economy of the United States.






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