OCC rejects call to pause trust-bank application tied to World Liberty Financial

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will continue processing a federal trust bank application linked to World Liberty Financial Inc., a crypto firm partially owned by President Donald Trump, despite a request from Senator Elizabeth Warren to halt the review.

In a letter Friday, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said the agency has a legal obligation to act on applications within established timelines and will follow its standard process rather than delay the review. Gould emphasized that bank charter evaluations are intended to be apolitical and nonpartisan, focused on whether applicants meet regulatory standards and supervisory expectations.

Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, had urged the OCC to pause consideration of the application until Trump and his family divest their ownership interests in the company, citing concerns about potential conflicts of interest. In a statement, she criticized the decision to proceed and argued that no crypto market structure legislation should advance in Congress without safeguards to prevent similar conflicts.

World Liberty Financial’s proposed trust bank charter would place the firm under federal regulatory oversight. Gould, a former executive at blockchain company Bitfury, previously defended the growing trend of crypto firms seeking trust charters, a development that has drawn criticism from traditional banking groups.