Recently, the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced that it is now accepting applications for national bank charters from nondepository banking institutions. Numerous consumer groups and state banking agencies have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the concept of a national “FinTech charter,” and it is likely one or more of these groups will sue the OCC over the legality of the new form of charter. However, assuming that the OCC prevails in the oncoming litigation, the FinTech charter may present an attractive alternative to certain businesses dealing in digital assets that under current law may be required to obtain money transmitter or similar licenses in each state in which they do business. In theory, a FinTech charter from the federal regulator would, under the National Bank Act, preempt most state banking laws and streamline state regulatory compliance. The tradeoff to businesses that successfully obtain FinTech charters is that they would become subject to substantial regulation as national banks.
We discuss the parameters of the new FinTech charter in our detailed client alert.