Community Bankers Take OCC to Court Over Crypto Charter Approvals
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has filed a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over its approval of national trust bank charters for cryptocurrency companies.
The ICBA claims that the OCC's decision to allow non-fiduciary activities, including substantial crypto operations, exceeds its statutory authority. The group argues that the OCC ignored warnings from commenters, including ICBA, about the risk and control functions and governance structures of these companies.
The lawsuit challenges a March 2nd final rule and related guidance that allowed the approval of 21 national trust bank charters, with at least 13 going to crypto companies. The complaint seeks to overturn the rule and vacate the conditional approval granted to Protego Holdings Corp.