A community bank group has sued a US bank regulator, claiming that its decision to allow cryptocurrency companies to obtain limited national trust bank charters exceeded the authority the agency gave Congress.
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) Filed a case Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The group claimed that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted cryptocurrency firms a US bank charter without adequate safeguards or compliance with general bank requirements.
“The OCC’s decision to allow institutions to obtain national trust bank charters to conduct substantial non-trust activities exceeds the authority Congress has given the agency,” said ICBA President and CEO Rebecca Romero Rainey. statement. “Congress did not create the National Trust Charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter without Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance that apply to insured depository institutions.”
ICBA is asking the court to return the OCC to its statutory limits, Rainey added.
The OCC was asked for comment on the case but had not responded by the time of publication.
Cointelegraph reported in August that under President Donald Trump and OCC chief Jonathan Gold, the agency approved or conditionally approved multiple applications from crypto companies seeking trust charters to expand their services in the United States.
Still, trust bank charters do not allow companies to accept deposits or make loans, distinguishing them from conventional commercial banks, Cointelegraph reported.
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