The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sued the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in federal court in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 2026, seeking to block a rule on national trust-bank charters, according to Bloomberg Law. The dispute is over whether the OCC can use the statutory authority for trust banks to charter firms whose proposed business may extend beyond conventional fiduciary services. The case had not been resolved in the available reporting as of October 3, 2026.
What ICBA is challenging
Bloomberg Law reported that ICBA filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on October 2, 2026. The association argues that the OCC is allowing national trust-bank charters for crypto and other nontraditional companies to cover banking activities beyond custody and other services traditionally associated with fiduciary trust banks. Bloomberg reported that ICBA is seeking to block the rule. Those are the plaintiff’s allegations and reported requested relief, not a court’s findings. Bloomberg Law’s report
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The complaint itself was not available in the sources reviewed. Its case number, specific legal claims, requested injunction wording, and subsequent docket history therefore cannot be established here.
What the OCC rule changed
The OCC’s 2026 final rule amended 12 CFR 5.20, replacing “fiduciary activities” with the statutory phrase “the operations of a trust company and activities related thereto,” drawn from 12 U.S.C. 27(a). The agency said the change aligns its regulation with the statute and avoids confusion about whether a national trust bank may conduct activities within the business of banking. OCC final rule
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The OCC describes a national trust bank as a national bank whose articles of association limit it to trust-company operations and related activities. In the agency’s words, “A national trust bank is simply a national bank with articles of association that limit its activities to the operations of a trust company and activities related thereto.” 91 FR 9977
The rule does not list every activity a crypto company may perform under a trust charter, nor does it set a minimum amount of fiduciary business. The OCC says a charter does not, by itself, authorize every activity a bank might propose: each activity must have a legal source of authority, and the agency considers proposed activities individually through licensing applications. It said it “will determine the source of authority for any proposed activities on a case-by-case basis as part of its ordinary review of licensing applications regarding national trust banks.”
The OCC’s position is that the rule neither expands nor contracts its chartering authority, and that the scope of fiduciary, nonfiduciary, or other activities was outside this rulemaking’s purpose. That is the agency’s interpretation, not a judicial ruling on the statute.
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The disagreement turns on three connected questions. The OCC’s position and the bankers’ concerns are competing views that the lawsuit may put before a court; none has been decided in the materials available.
| Question | OCC’s position | Bankers’ concern |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory scope | Section 27(a) authorizes trust-company operations and related activities; other activities require a separate statutory basis. | ICBA objects to trust charters being used to encompass activities it considers beyond the traditional trust-bank role. |
| Fit of proposed services | Chartering and authority to perform each proposed activity are distinct questions, assessed in licensing review. | Banking groups question whether applicants’ business plans involve the fiduciary work expected of national trust banks. |
| Public scrutiny | The OCC says it reviews proposed activities case by case through applications. | In an earlier joint letter, the ABA and other associations said public application materials did not permit meaningful scrutiny. |
The OCC’s legal reasoning distinguishes the trust-company language in section 27(a) from the fiduciary-powers language in section 92a. It argues that a national trust bank may need another statutory authority for nonfiduciary activities. The ABA and other associations, in a prior comment letter, called charter suitability “a material question of public policy” and questioned whether applicants’ plans fit the fiduciary activities of national trust banks. Joint comment letter
Why the dispute matters to crypto firms
A national trust-bank charter can matter to a crypto firm proposing custody or related services, but the rule is not a blanket permission for crypto activity. The practical question is whether a particular service falls within trust-company operations or related activities, and whether the firm has authority for any additional activity. The OCC says it makes that determination in reviewing each application.
Ripple offers a concrete example of the issue, not a decision in ICBA’s case. In a December 2025 conditional approval letter for Ripple National Trust Bank, the OCC described proposed collateral-trustee and cryptocurrency-custody services in a fiduciary capacity, alongside related reserve-management services, and concluded those activities were permissible under the statutes it cited. The letter also recorded comments from trade groups and others questioning the application and its fit with OCC precedent. OCC’s Ripple approval letter
Separately, the OCC’s 2026 final-rule discussion reported nearly $2 trillion in assets in custody or safekeeping accounts at national trust banks. That figure concerns those banks’ reported custody or safekeeping accounts; it is not a measure of crypto assets or assets held by ICBA. OCC final-rule discussion
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What is known about the case now
As of October 3, 2026, the available material establishes that ICBA filed suit the previous day and that Bloomberg reported the suit seeks to block the OCC rule. It does not establish a court ruling on the merits or a later procedural event. The complaint’s details and any response from the OCC were not available in the sources reviewed.
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