Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Rule Changes

Chartered the trust bank and faces a lawsuit over its chartering rule

Coinbase has held its customers' crypto under a New York state trust charter since October 2018. On Nov. 6, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted its replacement, Coinbase National Trust Company, a full federal trust bank charter.

Updated 2 hours ago

New Capabilities

Issued its first AI examination framework on November 4, 2026

An AI agent that logs in with a customer's password looks exactly like that customer to a bank's systems. JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, Citigroup and Wells Fargo spent October blocking such agents from consumer accounts, or writing terms that make the customer responsible for whatever an agent does.

Updated 4 days ago

Rule Changes

Issued the framework on November 4, 2026

On November 4, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) told its bank examiners how to review artificial intelligence. The 22-page framework says a simple AI agent that can move money is riskier than a sophisticated model that only writes internal memos.

Updated 4 days ago

Money Moves

Fined City National $65 million in January 2024

City National Bank told California regulators on November 3 it plans to cut 22 jobs across two Los Angeles sites, effective January 8, 2027. The notices are filings of intent under the federal WARN Act, which requires 60 days' warning of a mass layoff, not reports that the jobs have already ended.

Updated 5 days ago

Money Moves

Granted Erebor its national bank charter

Erebor Bank opened in February 2026 with a national charter and a core banking system that settles payments on a blockchain, weekends included. By September it held more than $7 billion in deposits. Now Japan's SBI Holdings plans to invest $100 million in it.

Updated 6 days ago

Rule Changes

Issued the largest penalty in its history against the bank

Bank of America recorded a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge in the third quarter for the penalties Treasury announced October 13. In its quarterly filing on October 30, the bank said it has completed major steps under a December 2024 order to fix its anti-money-laundering program and has added staff and technology since late 2023.

Updated Nov 1

Rule Changes

Issued final rule implementing GENIUS Act

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published its GENIUS Act stablecoin rule in the Federal Register on October 23. From January 18, 2027, a company must be approved as a permitted issuer before it can issue a dollar-backed payment token in the United States.

Updated Oct 26

Rule Changes

Primary regulator of American Express National Bank; assessed penalty and issued cease-and-desist order

American Express National Bank agreed to pay a $350 million fine and overhaul its anti-money-laundering program after regulators found it processed roughly $13 billion in suspected trade-based money laundering from June 2014 to May 2025. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a cease-and-desist order against the bank, while the Federal Reserve ordered parent companies American Express Co. and American Express Travel Related Services to fix financial-crimes risk management company-wide.

Updated Oct 25

Rule Changes

Defendant in the lawsuit

A trade group for community banks sued the U.S. banking regulator on Oct. 2 over federal trust charters granted to crypto firms. The Independent Community Bankers of America says the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has exceeded its authority under the National Bank Act.

Updated Oct 21

Rule Changes

Published the debanking report that triggered the CFPB probe

Nine of America's largest banks face a federal investigation into whether they illegally denied customers service because of political beliefs or lawful business activities. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened the probe on October 14, the same day the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a report documenting those practices at all nine institutions.

Updated Oct 19

Rule Changes

As of August 2026: Co-issued the final rule

For 60 years, the phrase 'unsafe or unsound practice' gave bank regulators enormous power and no formal definition. On August 27, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) finalized one for the first time since the standard was created in 1966.

Updated Aug 27

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Investigating debanking at largest national banks

Donald Trump banked with JPMorgan Chase for decades; after the January 6 Capitol attack, the bank gave him 60 days to move hundreds of millions of dollars. As sitting president, he's suing the bank and its CEO for $5 billion, alleging political discrimination.

Updated May 22

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Bank regulator rescinding leveraged-lending guidance

In March 2013, U.S. bank regulators issued joint supervisory guidance on leveraged lending to prevent a return of pre-2008-style underwriting excesses, with examiners informally anchoring scrutiny around a roughly six-times-EBITDA leverage benchmark. Over the next decade, banks' pullback shifted riskier deal finance toward private-credit funds, CLOs, and other nonbanks—expanding an opaque "shadow banking" ecosystem even as regulators maintained the guidance was supervisory, not a binding rule.

Updated May 9