The American office of the Current of the Currency (OCC) has a termination of a 2022 consent against Crypto-Native custodian and Bank Anchorage Digital.
Summary
- US OCC falls 2022 consent order against Anchorage Digital.
- Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage, said that the decision was an important milestone for industry.
- American supervisors, including OCC, FED and FDIC, have facilitated restrictions on banks that offer crypto services.
After more than three years, the OCC, on Thursday, said It had dropped the order because “the safety and reliability of the bank and compliance with laws and regulations do not require the survival of the order.”
Co-founder and CEO of Anchorage said Nathan McCauley that the development was a milestone for both the company and the crypto industry in general.
“With our permission assignment lifted, we have definitely proven that crypto and federal supervision do not exclude each other,” he said, adding that this outcome “the standard for federally chartered custody of digital assets determines.”
The permission warrant against Anchorage was issued in April 2022. The occute cited Anchorage’s “failure to use and carry out a compliance program” that met the expectations of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundry practices.
At the time, acting competent Michael HSU emphasized that all nationally chartered banks – now involved in traditional or new activities – maintain the same level of regulatory compliance.
“When institutions fall short,” said HSU, “we will take action and keep them responsible.”
Although Anchorage did not admit or refused the findings of the OCC at that time, it acknowledged that it “had already worked to strengthen the identified areas” and committed to strengthening a new, digital assets stand for internal BSA/AML checks and procedures. “
That was a critical test for a company that had only recently broken New Ground by becoming the first crypto-native company that a National Bank Charter received from the OCC in 2021.
“We knew what we signed up for,” said McCauley this week, thoughtful about the company’s path since securing his charter. “The apparent impossibility of our federal charter mission illuminated a fire among us from the start.”
OCC and other supervisors have soften their attitude
Historically, the OCC has long been careful about digital assets. But under the Trump administration and crypto-friendly leadership, the agency has taken a softer attitude. The current leadership of the agency, including acting competent Rodney Hood, has publicly referred to Crypto as a “transformation” instead of a passing trend.
Hood has already confirmed that federally chartered banks can “carry out certain cryptocurrency activities in a responsible manner”, including buying, selling and delivering third parties, as long as institutions guarantee good supervision and risk management.
In the meantime, the Federal Reserve has eliminated the requirement for state banks to request prior approval before performing crypto-related activities, and the FDIC has also clarified that banks can participate in the digital assets sector without the desk.
Even the SEC has released its hold and has removed a rather mandate that banks forced to include the ordered crypto assets as obligations.
