I work for a small community bank, our risk rating is low on "location", "accounts" with a moderate rating only on"products and services"- we do offer electronic banking, wire transfers for customers only.
The exam manual- page 33- "For person other than an individual (such as corporation, partnership, or trust) the bank should obtain documents showing the legal existence of the entity, such as certified articles of incorporation, an unexpired government-issued business license, a partnership agreement, or a trust instrument". We have been accepting documents obtained from our Secretary of State's web site. This shows registered agent, address, current status.
Any thoughts on what the OCC would think about this?
Thanks for any suggestions you have.

If the question is: do certified copies of articles of incorporation provide better evidence of existence than a print out from the SOS office, the answer is, "No." In both cases you have a report from a state official that the corporation exists and that's CIP's goal. You would require the articles of incorporation if you needed to know their content for banking purposes; e.g. lending.

Corporations, LLC's, limited partnerships are relatively easy to document because they are "creatures of statute;" i.e. they do not exist unless they are registered with the state. It's more informal businesses such as sole proprietorships and general partnerships that are more difficult and force you to rely on business licenses and written agreements as evidence of existence.

These issues were addressed when the CIP regulations were issued; the new exam procedures have not added any new concepts.