FINANCIAL REGULATION · CHECKED 2026-10-03 UTC
Who regulates what
A plain-English guide to major U.S. financial regulators
A simplified description of major responsibilities, not legal advice or an exhaustive jurisdiction map. More than one regulator can oversee the same organization or activity. Specific obligations depend on the charter, product, entity, size and applicable law.
Federal Reserve
- Main responsibility
- Oversees the safety and soundness of banking organizations within its jurisdiction and supports financial-system stability.
- Entities and activities
- Bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, state-chartered banks that are Federal Reserve members, and specified U.S. operations of foreign banking organizations.
- Overlap and limits
- A holding company and its bank can have different supervisors. National banks have the OCC as their primary federal bank supervisor; state nonmember banks generally have the FDIC. State regulators also supervise state-chartered banks.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Main responsibility
- Charters and supervises federally chartered banks, with responsibilities for safety and soundness, lawful operation and fair treatment of customers.
- Entities and activities
- National banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.
- Overlap and limits
- Charter type matters: state-chartered banks have a state regulator and a different primary federal supervisor. An OCC-supervised bank can also have FDIC deposit insurance and, above the applicable threshold, CFPB consumer-compliance supervision.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Main responsibility
- Insures eligible bank deposits, supervises banks within its remit, and resolves failed insured banks.
- Entities and activities
- Primary federal supervisor for state-chartered banks that do not belong to the Federal Reserve System; deposit insurer and a backup supervisor for other insured banks and savings associations.
- Overlap and limits
- FDIC insurance and primary supervision are different roles. The FDIC does not insure securities, mutual funds or other investments sold by a bank. State regulators share oversight of state-chartered institutions.
Official sources
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Main responsibility
- Oversees compliance with federal consumer financial laws in the institutions and markets covered by its supervisory authority.
- Entities and activities
- Banks, thrifts and credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets and their affiliates; nonbank mortgage originators and servicers, payday lenders and private student lenders; specified larger participants in other consumer-finance markets.
- Overlap and limits
- Consumer-finance supervision overlaps with bank, credit-union and state oversight. Nonbank coverage depends on activity, market rules or a risk-based designation. The $10 billion threshold describes depository supervision, not the full reach of consumer financial law.
Official sources
National Credit Union Administration
- Main responsibility
- Charters and regulates federal credit unions and administers federal credit-union share insurance.
- Entities and activities
- Federal credit unions; also has an insurance-related examination role at federally insured state-chartered credit unions.
- Overlap and limits
- State-chartered credit unions have state supervisory authorities. Not every state-chartered credit union has federal share insurance. Credit unions above $10 billion in assets also fall within CFPB consumer-compliance supervision.
Securities and Exchange Commission
- Main responsibility
- Protects investors, oversees securities markets and disclosure, and enforces federal securities laws.
- Entities and activities
- Public-company securities disclosures, broker-dealers, securities exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations, clearing agencies, registered investment companies and investment advisers within its jurisdiction, and security-based swap markets.
- Overlap and limits
- The SEC oversees securities self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA. Securities registration is not a government guarantee. The SEC regulates security-based swaps; the CFTC regulates swaps, with joint oversight of mixed swaps.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Main responsibility
- Oversees U.S. derivatives markets to support market integrity and resilience.
- Entities and activities
- Futures and commodity-options markets, swaps within its jurisdiction, trading platforms, and intermediaries such as futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisers and swap dealers.
- Overlap and limits
- Derivative type matters: the SEC oversees security-based swaps, while mixed swaps and security futures involve joint SEC–CFTC oversight. A product's label alone does not settle jurisdiction.
State banking and financial regulators
- Main responsibility
- Charter state banks and license and supervise financial businesses under state law.
- Entities and activities
- State-chartered banks and, depending on state law, nonbank businesses such as mortgage lenders and brokers, money transmitters, consumer-finance companies and debt collectors.
- Overlap and limits
- State-chartered banks also have federal oversight, generally through the Fed or FDIC. Nonbanks may also face CFPB or other federal authority. CSBS supports and coordinates state regulators; it is an association, not the agency that grants a state's charter or license.
The check date describes a source review, not a guarantee that every source was updated that day. This guide does not cover every regulator or determine any organization’s legal obligations.