Office of Thrift Supervision

About the OTS

The OTS supervises a national thrift industry that is built on the bedrock of the American dream of homeownership—supplying affordable home financing for Americans from all walks of life.

The industry has a long history dating back to 1831 with the establishment of the first savings association, the Oxford Provident Building Association, which made home loans and offered savings accounts. Today, the charter is a vibrant model for running a retail financial services business.

Home mortgages remain a staple of the thrift industry. However, the array of financial products and services offered by many institutions and their holding companies paint a modern-day portrait of diversification within the industry, based on business strategy.

Financial services businesses that serve families and small businesses across the nation have found the thrift charter a perfect fit for several reasons:

• Branching – Institutions with an eye toward future growth or firms that reside near state borders value the capability offered by the thrift charter to branch across state lines, without restriction or condition, under a single charter.

• Consolidated Supervision – Savings and loan holding companies and their thrift subsidiaries can operate under the consolidated regulatory supervision of a single federal regulator — the OTS. This consolidated approach prevents duplicative supervision and promotes efficiency. This is especially important for smaller institutions.

• Uniform Regulatory Framework – Uniform federal laws under the thrift charter require safe and sound operations, and appropriate consumer protections, without subjecting institutions to a wide array of different, and perhaps conflicting, state and local statutes.

Financial institutions from across the nation have found that the thrift charter and the experienced, expert workforce of the OTS provide an ideal framework for conducting retail banking operations and related financial services activities. The charter enables these institutions to meet the needs of their customers, and to compete and prosper in today’s fast-paced financial marketplace.