AN ACT TO PROVIDE A NATIONAL CURRENCY, SECURED BY A PLEDGE OF UNITED STATES STOCKS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE CIRCULATION AND REDEMPTION THEREOF [ Uniform National Currency and Banking Association Act ]

Washington: U.S. Senate. Very Good-. 1863. First Edition. Removed Document. 37th Congress, 3d session. Senate Misc Doc. No 31; 28 pages; Unmarked, clean and complete. Removed Document. Measures 8 7/8 x 5 3/4 in. OCLC 1064999617 "President Lincoln recognized that unreliable paper money and inadequate credit was problematic. Along with his Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, he conceived the national banking system and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to regulate and supervise it. On February 25, 1863, President Lincoln signed The National Currency Act into law. The Act established the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), charged with responsibility for organizing and administering a system of nationally chartered banks and a uniform national currency." The National Bank Act of 1863 provided for the federal charter and supervision of a system of banks known as national banks; they were to circulate a stable, uniform national currency secured by federal bonds deposited by each bank with the comptroller of the currency (often called the national banking administrator). The act regulated the minimum capital requirements of national banks, the kinds of loans they could make, and the reserves that were to be held against notes and deposits; it also provided for the supervision and examination of banks and for the protection of noteholders. .