In its comment letter filed Monday, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) urged the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to reject World Liberty Holdings, LLC ‘s application for a national trust bank charter due to potential conflicts of interest.
NCRC warned that impartiality by the OCC is impossible given President Trump’s involvement in World Liberty Financial and the parties’ connections. It further raised concerns that granting such charters would stretch trust bank charters beyond their statutory limits by allowing non-fiduciary activities, encourage deposit flight and allow stablecoin companies to gain the credibility that banks hold without the corresponding obligations to communities. In urging the OCC to reject the application, NCRC also requested that the OCC stop issuing bank charters to crypto and stablecoin companies and address the significant risks of regulatory arbitrage, safety and soundness and consumer fraud associated with stablecoin trust charters.
“Approving a politically connected stablecoin firm for a trust charter risks preferential treatment, weakens oversight and diverts resources away from communities the bank system is meant to serve. We call on Congress to require an independent, public interest review of national trust charter applications separate from the OCC’s supervisory process,” said NCRC’s President and CEO Jesse Van Tol.
