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WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced conditional approval of the conversion of Protego Trust Company, a Washington state-chartered trust company, to become Protego Trust Bank, National Association.

The OCC granted conditional approval to Protego after thorough review of its conversion application. Protego is currently in the organizational phase of development and will have up to 18 months to meet the terms of its conditional approval before it converts to a national trust bank and begins to operate.

The federal banking system includes nearly 1,200 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banking organizations operating in the United States that range in size from 1,000 smaller community banks under $10 billion in assets focused on meeting local needs to the largest international active banks. These banking companies conduct a wide array of businesses that range from retail and wholesale banking activity to trust, credit card and other more narrowly focused services. The institutions that make up the federal banking system conduct approximately 70 percent of the banking activity in the United States, hold more than $14 trillion in assets combined, and manage more than $60 trillion under their custody and fiduciary control.