Rain Seeks US National Trust Bank Charter From OCC

Stablecoin payments infrastructure provider Rain has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Rain National Trust Bank, headquartered in New York. According to Cointelegraph, the proposed institution would provide fiduciary custody of digital assets and US dollars for institutional clients, manage reserves for permitted stablecoin issuers, and handle the issuance and redemption of dollar-backed stablecoins under the GENIUS Act.

Former Square Financial Services chief financial officer Brandon Soto is slated to serve as president and CEO of the proposed national trust bank, pending OCC review. "The institutions building on Rain want the assets behind their programs held by a fiduciary that answers to a federal regulator," Rain CEO and co-founder Farooq Malik said.

Growing Push for Federal Charters

Rain joins a mounting queue of digital asset and payments companies pursuing national trust bank charters. Payments infrastructure firm Modern Treasury also announced that it submitted an application seeking approval to offer digital asset custody and related fiat services.

However, the expansion has met regulatory pushback from traditional finance. The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, alleging the regulator exceeded its authority by permitting non-depository trust banks to engage in non-fiduciary activities.

Key facts

• Rain filed an application with the OCC to establish Rain National Trust Bank in New York.
• Brandon Soto is slated to serve as president and CEO, subject to regulatory review.
• Modern Treasury also submitted a national trust bank charter application.
• The ICBA filed a lawsuit against the OCC to challenge rules underpinning crypto trust charters.