Warren Targets Trump-Linked Crypto Bank Approval With Ethics Bill

Senator Elizabeth Warren and a group of Democratic lawmakers on Saturday introduced legislation that would prohibit presidents and other senior government officials from owning or controlling banks, following federal regulators' approval of a bank charter application linked to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture.

The move came a day after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional preliminary approval to World Liberty Trust Company's (WLTC) application for a national trust bank charter.

Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, framed the approval as an unprecedented conflict of interest.

"President Trump is now the first President in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank," Warren said in a statement announcing the bill. "This is the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen, and Congress cannot allow it to stand."

World Liberty Financial rejected that characterization.

"Critics are missing the point: World Liberty Financial is running towards regulation and continuous oversight, not away from it," David Wachsman, a spokesman for World Liberty Financial, told Newsweek on Sunday, who added that the proposed bank would operate under lasting federal supervision.