OKLAHOMA CITY – The State Banking Board approved another significant rebate for the second consecutive year.
The board voted unanimously Nov. 16 to slash the assessments paid by Oklahoma state-chartered banks. The 2023 assessment rate was discounted 50% for each bank with assets less than $1 billion and 25% for each bank with assets greater than $1 billion.
The 2022 assessment rate was discounted 40%, bringing the two-year reduction to 90% for state-chartered banks with assets under $1 billion, State Banking Commissioner Mick Thompson noted.
According to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation records for the second quarter of this year, all but 17 of Oklahoma’s 180 banks have less than $1 billion in assets.
State-chartered banks pay a regulatory fee of 18 cents per $1 million in assets, Thompson said.
But rather than cut the regulatory fee, the Banking Board preferred to discount the assessments. “That gives us some flexibility,” Thompson said, “especially this year because of economic conditions and because the FDIC is raising its insurance premiums” that banks will start paying next year. “We wanted to offset some of that.”
The Banking Department has recommended a discount to bank assessments each year for the past decade. During that time, state-chartered Oklahoma banks have saved more than $20 million in assessments through discounts approved by the State Banking Board, ledgers reflect.
The Banking Department has used the assessment discount as “an opportunity to reduce regulatory burden on state-chartered banks,” Thompson said.