12 U.S.C. § 1
Section 1 · Office of Comptroller of the Currency
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 147 court decisions — leading case Cooper v. O'Connor (1938)
Most recently applied in Johnson v. BOKF National Assn (September 2021)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 12 U.S.C. § 24 · 12 U.S.C. § 85 · 12 U.S.C. § 21
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
There is established in the Department of the Treasury a bureau to be known as the “Office of the Comptroller of the Currency” which is charged with assuring the safety and soundness of, and compliance with laws and regulations, fair access to financial services, and fair treatment of customers by, the institutions and other persons subject to its jurisdiction.
(1) In general
The chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shall be known as the Comptroller of the Currency. The Comptroller of the Currency shall perform the duties of the Comptroller of the Currency under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury may not delay or prevent the issuance of any rule or the promulgation of any regulation by the Comptroller of the Currency, and may not intervene in any matter or proceeding before the Comptroller of the Currency (including agency enforcement actions), unless otherwise specifically provided by law.
(2) Additional authority
The Comptroller of the Currency shall have the same authority with respect to functions transferred to the Comptroller of the Currency under the Enhancing Financial Institution Safety and Soundness Act of 2010 as was vested in the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision on the transfer date, as defined in section 311 of that Act [12 U.S.C. 5411].
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Enhancing Financial Institution Safety and Soundness Act of 2010, referred to in subsec. (b)(2), is Pub. L. 111–203, title III, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1520. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5301 of this title and Tables.
Codification
R.S. §324 derived from act June 3, 1864, ch. 106, §1, 13 Stat. 99, which was the National Bank Act. See section 38 of this title.
Section is comprised of R.S. §324, as amended by the eighth paragraph of act Dec. 23, 1913, §10.
Amendments
2010—Pub. L. 111–203 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section read as follows: “There shall be in the Department of the Treasury a bureau charged with the execution of all laws passed by Congress relating to the issue and regulation of national currency secured by United States bonds and, under the general supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, of all Federal Reserve notes, except for the cancellation and destruction, and accounting with respect to such cancellation and destruction, of Federal Reserve notes unfit for circulation, the chief officer of which bureau shall be called the Comptroller of the Currency and shall perform his duties under the general directions of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Comptroller of the Currency shall have the same authority over matters within the jurisdiction of the Comptroller as the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision has over matters within the Director's jurisdiction under section 1462a(b)(3) of this title. The Secretary of the Treasury may not delay or prevent the issuance of any rule or the promulgation of any regulation by the Comptroller of the Currency.”
1994—Pub. L. 103–325 inserted at end “The Comptroller of the Currency shall have the same authority over matters within the jurisdiction of the Comptroller as the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision has over matters within the Director's jurisdiction under section 1462a(b)(3) of this title. The Secretary of the Treasury may not delay or prevent the issuance of any rule or the promulgation of any regulation by the Comptroller of the Currency.”
1966—Pub. L. 89–427 inserted exception relating to cancellation and destruction, and accounting with respect to the cancellation and destruction, of Federal Reserve notes unfit for circulation.
Effective Date of 2010 Amendment
Pub. L. 111–203, title III, §314(d), July 21, 2010, 124 Stat. 1524, provided that: “This section [enacting section 4b of this title and amending this section and section 11 of this title], and the amendments made by this section, shall take effect on the transfer date.”
[For definition of “transfer date” as used in section 314(d) of Pub. L. 111–203, set out above, see section 5301 of this title.]
Exception as to Transfer of Functions
Functions vested by any provision of law in Comptroller of the Currency, referred to in this section, were not included in transfer of functions of officers, agencies, and employees of Department of the Treasury to Secretary of the Treasury, made by Reorg. Plan No. 26 of 1950, §1, eff. July 31, 1950, 15 F.R. 4935, 64 Stat. 1280. See section 321(c)(2) of Title 31, Money and Finance.