US bank lobby challenges crypto firms’ bids for bank licences
US banking and credit union groups asked the OCC to delay deciding on bank license applications from crypto firms, arguing there are “significant policy and process concerns.”
US banking groups have urged the country’s banking watchdog to postpone its decision on crypto companies’ bank licenses until more details about their plans are public, claiming that allowing the bids would be “a fundamental departure” from current policy.
The American Bankers Association and other bank and credit union trade groups said in a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Thursday that its approval of national bank charters for the likes of stablecoin issuers Circle Internet Group and Ripple Labs “would raise significant policy and process concerns.”
“There are significant policy and legal questions as to whether the Applicants’ proposed business plans involve the types of fiduciary activities performed by national trust banks,” the groups argued.