OCC Reminds Banks of Records Obligations

OCC

On April 27, the OCC issued Bulletin 2016-13 to remind banks of their obligations pertaining to the maintenance of records, records retention, and examiner access to records. According to the bulletin, communications technology recently made available to banks could “prevent or impede OCC access to bank records through certain data deletion or encryption features.” The OCC’s bulletin reminds banks that (i) pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 481 and 12 U.S.C. § 1464(d)(1)(B)(ii), the OCC has full and unimpeded access to a bank’s books and records; and (ii) communications technology should not be used to limit an examiner’s access to bank records. The bulletin further cautions that, while some chat and messaging platforms claim the ability to permanently delete internal communication, the OCC believes that the “permanent deletion of internal communications, especially if occurring within a relatively short time frame, conflicts with OCC expectations of sound governance, compliance, and risk management practices as well as safety and soundness principles.”