WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. regulator overseeing nationwide banks clarified Friday that banks can interact in some crypto actions, and eliminated expectations companies ought to obtain advance permission from regulators earlier than doing so.
The Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money mentioned in an announcement that nationwide banks are permitted to interact in some crypto actions, equivalent to crypto-asset custody, some stablecoin actions, and participation in distributed ledger networks.
The OCC additionally rescinded prior steerage telling banks they need to clear crypto actions with regulators beforehand, together with displaying they’ve ample controls in place for that enterprise.
Rodney Hood, performing comptroller, mentioned in an announcement that the brand new steerage makes clear banks should have threat administration in place no matter know-how. The announcement got here on the identical day the White Home hosted a crypto summit, and hours after President Donald Trump signed an government order establishing a strategic reserve for bitcoin and a handful of different cryptocurrencies.
“In the present day’s motion will cut back the burden on banks to interact in crypto-related actions and be sure that these financial institution actions are handled persistently by the OCC, whatever the underlying know-how,” Hood mentioned in an announcement.
Particularly, the OCC on Friday rescinded steerage for banks issued underneath former President Joe Biden’s administration, which successfully set further guardrails for banks searching for to interact in some crypto actions. The rescinded letters instructed banks they need to transient their supervisors on crypto actions beforehand, present how they might deal with dangers, and make sure the supervisor had no objection.
The OCC additionally withdrew from joint statements beforehand issued by U.S. regulators successfully cautioning banks in opposition to participating with crypto. One such assertion, issued in 2023, didn’t prohibit banks from doing crypto enterprise, however warned the sector is liable to “important volatility” and mentioned any financial institution actions can be intently scrutinized.
(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Modifying by Chris Reese and David Gregorio)
