Summary
Banking trade groups BPI, ICBA, and NCRC filed objections to Sony's Connectia Trust application on banking-commerce separation, receivership readiness, and CRA avoidance grounds. The OCC responded that the law permits this integration, that its receivership framework is adequate for uninsured national banks, and that CRA does not apply to non-deposit-taking trust banks. The OCC imposed a unique condition: it may require Connectia to install a dedicated, full-time CFO at any point. The OCC also ruled that stablecoins in a closed-loop payment system are not deposits or checks under the National Bank Act, sidestepping the question of whether trust banks can issue stablecoins on public blockchains.
Key Points
- BPI: application "raises questions regarding the longstanding separation of banking and commerce"
- ICBA: OCC receivership framework "wholly unequipped to resolve an uninsured, systemically significant stablecoin issuer"
- NCRC: approval would create "a two-tier system where digital asset firms receive comparable federal status without comparable public obligations"
- OCC response: "law permits this integration" (per Roman Goldstein, Klaros Group)
- OCC condition: may require dedicated full-time CFO at any point
- OCC ruling: stablecoins in closed-loop system are not deposits or checks
- Connectia board: Takahito Yamada (CEO/COO), Takafumi Watanabe (Sony Bank CFO), Nida Davis (Microsoft), David Forman (ex-EDX Markets GC), Jeffrey Levine (ex-PayPal SVP)
- Sony Bank applied October 2025; Sidley Austin LLP represented