National Trust Bank Charters: ICBA Sues OCC Over Crypto Access

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sued the OCC on October 2 over national trust bank charters for crypto firms. ICBA's release says it filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Cointelegraph posted about it on X. The bank group wants the court to strike down an OCC rule and a related letter.

What The Charter Complaint Targets

The complaint names the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould. It challenges the OCC's March 2 final rule on national bank chartering and Interpretive Letter 1176. ICBA says the pair create a "gaping hole in financial regulation." The claim rests on the Administrative Procedure Act.

The filing says the OCC has approved or conditionally approved 21 national trust banks. At least 13 are crypto companies, including Protego Holdings. ICBA also asks the court to vacate the conditional charter that Protego received in February. ICBA says it opposed that application and cited weak risk controls and governance.

ICBA press release, published October 2, 2026.

Why Community Banks Oppose Trust Charters

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said Congress did not create the charter as "a side door into the banking system for crypto firms." She says these firms avoid Community Reinvestment Act obligations, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC insurance.

The complaint says the OCC can charter only three kinds of national banks. Those are deposit-taking banks, bankers' banks, and trust banks that provide fiduciary services. ICBA argues a crypto firm that is neither a depository nor a fiduciary fits none of them. Before the recent wave of applications, it says, the OCC had never chartered such a bank.

It also points to a 1978 change to the National Bank Act. ICBA reads that change as a limit on trust charters, not a grant of new power. The complaint adds that a national charter preempts many state rules, including consumer protection laws.

Competition And Risk In Trust Bank Charters

ICBA says national trust banks could draw customers and siphon deposits away from community banks. It adds that they can offer many of the same services without the same banking rules, which it calls a competitive disadvantage. The complaint also warns that crypto is volatile and prone to fraud. It notes the OCC has not run an uninsured bank receivership in nearly 100 years.

The OCC's Position

The agency has framed the rule more narrowly. In OCC Bulletin 2026-4, it said the rule clarifies the longstanding authority of trust banks to do non-fiduciary work. It swaps the phrase "fiduciary activities" for "operations of a trust company and activities related thereto."

The bulletin says the rule would neither expand nor contract the OCC's power to charter a national bank. The Federal Register lists it as effective April 1. A note for community banks says it applies to all applicants for a trust-only national charter. The case is new, filed as No. 1:26-cv-03441, and no ruling exists yet.

What Happens Next

The government now has to answer the complaint in court. ICBA wants both the rule and the letter declared unlawful. ICBA says any non-fiduciary firm seeking a federal bank charter should meet the same standards as community banks. That is the core demand behind the challenge to national trust bank charters.

The OCC says its rule neither expands nor shrinks its chartering power. A federal judge will now have to sort out which reading of the statute holds.