OCC Clarifies Bank Authority to Engage in Certain Cryptocurrency Activities and Authority of OCC to Charter National Trust Banks — 2021-11-23

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today published a letter confirming that national banks and federal savings associations must demonstrate that they have adequate controls in place before they can engage in certain cryptocurrency, distributed ledger, and stablecoin activities. Shortly after taking office, Acting Comptroller Michael J. Hsu announced a review of OCC Interpretive Letters 1170, 1172, and 1174, issued in 2020 and 2021. Today's letter clarifies that the activities addressed in the previous interpretive letters may be conducted after a bank notifies its supervisory office of its intent to engage in the activities, and after a bank receives written notification of the supervisory office's non-objection. The bank should not engage in the activity until it receives a non-objection from its supervisory office. “Today's letter reaffirms the primacy of safety and soundness.