which banks must comply with the legal lending limit 
u s lending limit legal code applies to national banks and savings associations nationwide the federal code on lending limits says that a national bank or savings association may not issue a loan to a single borrower for more than 15 of the institution s capital and surplus most state regulated banks follow similar guidelines for maximum lending limits will i be faced with applying for a loan that exceeds banks legal limits it s highly unlikely banks are required to hold significant amounts of capital which typically causes lending limits to apply only to large institutional borrowers the bottom linethe legal lending limit is the maximum amount that a single bank can lend to a given borrower it s expressed as a percentage of an institution s capital and surplus the limits are regulated by the occ lending limit law applies to national banks and savings associations across the nation the federal code on lending limits states that a national bank or savings association may not issue a loan to a single borrower for more than 15 of the institution s capital and surplus but because most banks capital holdings are extensive the majority of retail or smaller business borrowers won t be affected by the legal lending limit 