A type of specialized banking organization that includes savings and loans associations and savings banks. Thrifts, like commercial banks, raise funds by taking deposits, but they are more restricted in the types of business activities in which they can engage. Thrifts are chartered and regulated under the Home Owners Loan Act. They are subject to a "qualified thrift lender test," which requires that at least 65% of the thrift's portfolio assets be in "qualified thrift investments" (primarily residential mortgages and consumer-related investments) in at least nine months out of each 12-month period. For more information on thrifts, see Practice Note, US Banking Law: Overview: Thrift Institutions. As of July 21, 2011, thrifts will be supervised and regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Previously, they had been supervised and regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision. For more information, see Practice Note, Summary of the Dodd-Frank Act: Regulatory Structure.