Crypto-Backed Rule Expanding Trust Bank Services Finalized (1)

A US banking regulator is expanding the services lenders can provide under a national trust charter, potentially giving financial technology and cryptocurrency companies another way to access the banking system while sparking an outcry from state regulators.

Companies that secure a national trust bank charter can engage broadly in “operations of a trust company and activities related thereto” under the final rule released Friday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, replacing current language limited to “fiduciary activities.”

That change means trust banks can engage in nonfiduciary custody operations, opening the door for approved companies to offer those ...