The majority of the financial institutions in the United States are chartered under state law by the variously-named state agencies charged with that responsibility.  See the State Law index page for links to state law

A common Application Form to apply for both a charter and deposit insurance  is utilized by the OCC, OTS, FDIC and all state chartering agencies

Financial institutions may be chartered either by a group of individuals or by a corporation.  If it is a corporation, the charterer, if it is not already a Bank Holding Company, must also file a separate application to become one

The most comprehensive source of information for prospective national bank Charterers is the Charters section of the Comptroller's Licensing Manual

Note that the Federal Reserve Board does not charter banks or bank holding companies.  It supervises bank holding companies.  Hence, there are no FRB regulations per se covering the formation of banks or bank holding companies

12 CFR Part 5   Rules, Policies, and Procedures for
                           Corporate Activities

• Subpart B - Initial Activities

• 5.20  Organizing a bank

Although the FDIC does not have any bank chartering authority, many, if not all, states require federal deposit insurance as a condition to chartering.  Thus, the FDIC's chartering authority comes in through the back door of deposit insurance regulations

12 CFR Part 543, Federal Mutual Savings Associations -   
                               incorporation, organization, and
                               conversion

12 CFR Part 544  Federal Mutual Savings Associations -
                              Charter and By-laws

SEC_CODE_REF_0090001192884

12 CFR Part 552  Incorporation of Federal Stock Assns

12 CFR Part 701  Organization and Operation of Federal
                               Credit Unions

• 701.1  Federal Credit Union Chartering, Field of Membership
           Modification and Conversions

NCUA Chartering and Field of Membership Manual

• This is a comprehensive 194 page manual issued by the NCUA that describes in detail the types of federal credit unions, the chartering process and charter conversions.
• N B Many of the NCUA's policies regarding chartering, field of membership modifications and conversions are NOT found in the CFR but rather in the Chartering and Field of Membership Manual 
• The Manual is incorporated by reference in 12 CFR 701
• Recent Changes

NCUA Express Chartering Procedure

Federal Credit Union Act

• Corporate Federal Credit Union Chartering Guidelines