OCC Encourages Banks to Assist Customers Impacted by Tornadoes

The ""Office of the Comptroller of the Currency"":http://www.occ.gov/ (OCC) issued a statement Wednesday to encourage banks and federal savings associations to work with customers affected by the destructive tornadoes that tore through Oklahoma.

The regulator provided a link to a ""bulletin"":http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2012/bulletin-2012-28.html that includes supervisory guidance for financial institutions responding to disasters around their locations.

Banks and federal savings associations were encouraged to consider alternatives to assist impacted customers, such as by waiving or reducing ATM fees; temporarily waiving late payment fees or penalties for early withdrawal of savings; restructuring borrowers' debt obligations; and expediting lending decisions, among other forms of assistance.