NR 2000-70
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			
Contact:  Sam Eskenazi  (202) 874-5770
September 17, 2000 				  

OCC Gives Bank Directors Guidance
To Maintain Safe and Sound Conditions

WASHINGTON -- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 
announced today the availability of a toolkit to help bank 
directors perform their oversight responsibilities.  

Bank directors must assure that their institution has adequate 
internal controls and that they remain alert to any sign of 
weaknesses in their bank, said Comptroller John D. Hawke, Jr.   
This toolkit will give them the resources they need to 
discharge those responsibilities. 

The National Bank Director’s Toolkit includes three booklets 
designed for bank decision-makers:  

. Red Flags in Board Reports:  A Guide for Directors -- This is 
a detailed listing of bank activities with which board members 
must be familiar.   The board can monitor the operations of 
the bank through management reports, but it must do more than 
merely accept and review these reports; it must be confident 
of their accuracy and reliability, the booklet states.  This 
publication identifies various leading indicators of 
increasing asset and credit quality, liquidity, and interest 
rate risk as well as red flags on a variety of other risks 
that should be a part of ongoing board reports, and includes a 
section on Internet banking.  The kit also includes a pocket 
guide version of this booklet.

. Internal Controls--A Guide for Directors -- This booklet 
emphasizes the importance of effective internal controls.  It 
contains a questionnaire for use by boards. 

. The Director’s Book--The Role of a National Bank Director -- 
The OCC’s popular 1997 general guide for directors of 
national banks contains a wealth of information about the 
responsibilities of bank directors.

Two copies of the toolkit have been distributed to every national 
bank.  Individual publications from the toolkit can be obtained 
from the OCC.  For pricing information and ordering, call 202-
874-4960.

The OCC charters, regulates and examines approximately 2,400 national 
banks and 58 federal branches of foreign banks in the U.S., accounting 
for more than 57 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.