Fintech · Industry brief

Dutch neobank Bunq's application for a national bank charter was rejected by the OCC in August, with regulators citing the need for a U.S.-specific business plan, greater demonstrated experience with proposed products, and clearer financial structure details. The rejection follows Wise's July denial for a proposed national trust bank, where the OCC raised concerns about AML/CFT controls and management experience, particularly given Wise's existing compliance issues under a multistate consent order since 2025. These cases illustrate the OCC's heightened scrutiny as more fintechs pursue banking charters, signaling stricter regulatory expectations around market-specific planning, product expertise, and compliance history.

ICBA and the Bank Policy Institute opposed Klarna's application to form an industrial loan company (ILC) chartered in Utah, filing a joint letter with the FDIC arguing the application poses significant risks to the Deposit Insurance Fund and the broader financial system. The groups cited concerns about Klarna Bank's reliance on its fintech parent company, heightened risk of noncompliance with affiliate transaction laws, and potential violations of anti-tying restrictions. ICBA called for the FDIC to pause processing ILC deposit insurance applications pending agency guidance, and continues advocating to close what it calls a regulatory loophole in the Bank Holding Company Act that allows commercial and fintech companies to own ILCs without federal consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve.

Brattle experts examined the recent conditional approvals of OCC bank charters for digital assets and tokenized finance firms in an article published by Westlaw titled "OCC Trust Bank Charters and the Federalization of Tokenized Finance." The analysis highlights how federally supervised trust banks provide a central organizing framework for functions required by tokenized assets, and notes that major financial institutions are developing tokenized money market fund products utilizing institutional functions similar to national trust banks. The article addresses novel regulatory questions including jurisdictional issues, custodian requirements, insolvency treatment, and the application of securities and banking law to tokenized transfers as crypto-related firms transition toward federal banking frameworks.