Other Regulators of Banks, Credit Unions and Mortgage Companies

Some additional outside links and resources that may help determine the history or supervision of an institution are:

• The DFS maintains a historical listing of New York banking institutions - Banks and Trust Companies, Savings Banks, Savings and Loans, Credit Unions, Investment Companies and Foreign Banking Institutions - that are or were New York State-chartered, as well as most federally chartered institutions that have ever operated in the state of New York.
• Other State Banks: Some state-licensed banks headquartered in other states have branch offices in New York. The FDIC Institution Directory allows you to locate any bank's branches and offices, find out if a bank is insured, review the history of a bank and more.
• Other State Regulators: The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has a Directory that includes contact information for all State Banking Departments.
• National Banks: A national bank is a financial institution chartered and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. National Banks typically have the words “national” or “national association” in their titles, or the letters “N.A.” in their names. National Banks are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or OCC.
• National Information Center: The Federal Reserve provides an Institution Search allowing searches for both current and non-current institutions by name and location. Their USBA Search allows you to search for U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations (FBOs).
• Mortgage Company or Individual License: The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System has a service called NMLS Consumer Access that allows you to search for and confirm that a mortgage company or mortgage professional with whom they wish to conduct business is licensed in your state.
• Federal Credit Unions: Many federal credit unions are distinguished by the words "Federal", or the initials "FCU" in their names. The NCUA’s Find a Credit Union tool can be used to locate and view information pertaining to any state-chartered or federally-chartered credit union.