US Community Bank Group Sues OCC, Calling Trust Charters for Crypto Firms a "Backdoor"

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), an association of U.S. regional banks, filed a lawsuit on October 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) exceeded the authority granted by Congress in approving national trust bank charters for crypto asset firms. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the ICBA is seeking a declaratory judgment that the charter rule published in March 2026 and the 2021 Interpretive Letter 1176 are unlawful, and requesting their rescission.

The core of the lawsuit concerns the scope of national trust bank charters. The ICBA maintains that trust banks are only permitted to engage in fiduciary activities, and argues there is no legal basis for granting charters to companies that neither take deposits nor conduct fiduciary business. The group criticized such charters as providing crypto asset firms with a "backdoor into the banking system."

ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey stated that granting charters to companies seeking the credibility of a federal banking license without bearing the regulatory burdens imposed on traditional banks—such as Community Reinvestment Act obligations, consolidated supervision, capital and liquidity standards, and FDIC deposit insurance—exceeds the authority Congress granted to the OCC.