On October 2 local time, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It argues that the OCC’s rule and legal interpretations for granting trust-bank charters to cryptoasset companies and others exceed the authority delegated by Congress.
The lawsuit challenges a final bank-chartering rule published in the Federal Register on March 2, Interpretive Letter 1176 from 2021 and a conditional approval involving Protego. The ICBA argues that a non-depository trust bank should be limited to fiduciary activities—where it has a legal duty to put the client’s interests first—and activities incidental to them.
The OCC, by contrast, maintains that trust-company business can include activities such as basic asset custody that do not carry those fiduciary duties. In the final rule, the OCC said the amendment clarifies its existing chartering authority under current law and neither expands nor contracts that authority.
According to the complaint, the OCC approved or conditionally approved 21 trust banks under the Trump administration, at least 13 of them cryptoasset companies. The ICBA argues that they offer services overlapping with community banks while avoiding equivalent regulatory costs, including deposit-insurance premiums, creating uneven competitive conditions.
Protego applied for a trust-bank charter in May 2025. On February 13, 2026, the OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to National Digital Trust Company, which Protego Holdings proposes to establish. The approval letter states that all pre-opening requirements must be satisfied before final approval and authorization to commence business.
The ICBA asked the court to declare unlawful and vacate the final rule, the interpretive letter and the Protego-related approval. It also seeks to bar further charters based on the rule and interpretation.