The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a final rule on Feb. 27 intended to clarify what authority national banks have to engage in non-fiduciary activities and the operations of trust companies. The rule met with opposition from community banking advocates.
The OCC stressed that the rule would neither expand nor contract the agency’s chartering authority over national banks, although it makes the following amendments to the OCC’s chartering regulation under 12 CFR 5.20 to:
- align with the OCC’s statutory authorization to charter national banks limited to the operations of a trust company and activities related thereto;
- change references from “fiduciary activities” to “operations of a trust company and activities related thereto.”
Independent Community Bankers of America President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey criticized the rule as being inconsistent with the OCC’s statutory authority, judicial interpretations and the agency’s own internal precedent.
“Further, the OCC’s plan to charter uninsured national trust banks that engage in non-fiduciary cryptocurrency-related activities without being subject to the Bank Holding Company Act and other prudential requirements that apply to FDIC-insured institutions poses critical public policy concerns for consumers and the stability of the financial services sector,” Romero Rainey said in a press release.
Romero Rainey, who has been proactive in voicing its members’ concerns about many of the OCC’s chartering decisions involving national trust banks, as well as other nonbank entities, called for the OCC to “withdraw the rule or reissue an amended proposal consistent with its own statutory authority.”
She asserted that the agency should also impose a moratorium on pending and new charter applications until it has issued a final rule that is fully in alignment with its statutory authority and incorporates public comments.
The final rule is scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2026.