ICBA urged the OCC to deny Agora Atlas Corporation’s application for a national trust bank charter for Agora National Trust Bank, saying the application is built on an unsound reading of the National Bank Act.
Details: In a letter to the OCC, ICBA said:
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The OCC lacks statutory authority to charter a national trust bank engaging in non-fiduciary activities.
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The application is fatally deficient in transparency and public accountability.
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Approval would create unlawful and inequitable competitive advantages at the expense of community banks.
New Application: According to a media report, Catena Labs is also applying for a national trust bank charter from the OCC, seeking authority to hold customer funds and process payments for AI agentic transactions.
Recent ICBA Advocacy: ICBA has raised objections to an influx of recent national trust charter applications:
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ICBA last month expressed opposition to the Lorum Group Holdings Inc. application for a de novo national trust bank charter.
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ICBA has repeatedly objected to national trust charter applications from limited-purpose trust banks that engage substantially in non-fiduciary activities, including applications from EDX Markets Holding Co., ZeroHash, PAYO Digital Bank, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, and a series of approvals announced in December.
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ICBA recently expressed opposition to the OCC’s conditional approval of Coinbase’s application for a national trust bank charter, saying the application fails to meet requirements of the National Bank Act and the OCC’s own regulations and standards.
OCC Rulemaking: ICBA has expressed significant concerns with the OCC’s chartering rule for national trust banks, saying the rule is inconsistent with the agency’s statutory authority. In its comment letter to the OCC in February, ICBA called on the agency to withdraw its proposal.
Analyses: An Independent Banker article and ICBA blog post break down the influx of applications from nonbank fintech firms for national bank trust charters and the risks they pose to the financial system.