بانکداران محلی از OCC درخواست کردند تا مانع از برنامههای بانک رمزارز سونی شود
**In brief**
* The ICBA says Sony Bank’s charter would let it issue deposit-like stablecoins outside traditional banking rules.
* The group’s concerns over Connectia Trust are “overstated and driven by big-bank interests,” an expert told Decrypt.
* Crypto firms, including Coinbase, Circle, and Ripple, are pursuing similar charters.
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), a national trade association representing small banks, has asked regulators to block Sony Bank’s bid for a national trust charter to issue stablecoins.
In a letter sent last week to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the group warned the Japanese financial giant is exploiting regulatory loopholes to bypass traditional banking oversight.
ICBA urged the @USOCC to reject Sony Bank’s application for a national trust bank charter for a proposed subsidiary—its latest response to the sudden influx of applications from nonbank fintechs. See our letter:
The ICBA called Sony Bank’s application for its proposed subsidiary, Connectia Trust, “an impermissible reinterpretation” of federal law that “could foreseeably lead to consumer confusion and consumer harm in the event of insolvency.”
Sony Bank filed in October to establish Connectia, which would issue dollar-pegged stablecoins, maintain reserve assets, and provide digital asset custody services.
Crypto firms seek federal charters
The application joins a growi
ng list that includes Coinbase, Crypto.com, Circle, Ripple, Bridge (Stripe’s stablecoin arm), and Paxos, all seeking federal charters as the stablecoin market surges past $311 billion following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July.
The ICBA says Connectia’s stablecoin “shares many features with bank deposits,” electronic transfers, point-of-sale spending, and one-to-one dollar redemption, yet would avoid federal deposit insurance and Community Reinvestment Act requirements that apply to traditional banks.
“This approach appears designed by Sony Bank to receive the benefits of a U.S. bank charter wi
بدون اینکه مشمول دامنه کامل مقررات بانکی ایالات متحده شود،” میکی مارشال، معاون و مشاور مقررات ICBA نوشت.
این نامه سؤال میکند که آیا کانکتیا واجد شرایط معافیتهای قانون شرکتهای نگهدارنده بانک است که به مؤسساتی محدود میشود که “منحصراً در ظرفیت امین یا فیدوشنری” فعالیت میکنند، و خاطرنشان میکند که بانکهای امین در صورت اجازه دادن به برداشت سپردهها “با چک یا ابزارهای مشابه برای پرداخت به اشخاص ثالث” آن وضعیت را از دست میدهند.
طرح کانکتیا برای درگیر شدن در “تجارت بانکداری و فعالیتهای مرتبط با تجارت بانکداری مجاز برای یک بانک ملی” به نظر میرسد که “زمینه را برای صدور کارتهای بدهی” فراهم میکند که محدودیتهای قانونی را نقض میکند، این انجمن خاطرنشان کرد.
این گروه همچنین سهم حدود ۲۰ درصدی گروه سونی در گروه مالی سونی، شرکت مادر کانکتیا را مورد سؤال قرار داد و گفت که “شایسته بررسی بیشتر در مورد وجود یک نفوذ کنترلکننده” است که مقررات شرکت نگهدارنده بانک را فعال میکند.
ICBA همچنین هشدار داد که OCC از سال ۱۹۳۳ یک بانک ملی بدون بیمه را منحل نکرده است و فاقد تخصص لازم برای مدیریت یک فروپاشی پیچیده رمزارز است و هشدار داد که “یک شکست در مونتاژ مجدد کلید یا انتقال سیستم میتواند منجر به از دست دادن دائمی دسترسی به میلیاردها دارایی مشتری شود.”
Innovation over “protectionism”
The opposition comes amid similar objections the group filed against Coinbase’s trust charter application earlier this month, prompting Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal to accuse lobbyists of “trying to dig regulatory moats” rather than protect consumers.
Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer at Komodo Platform, told Decrypt the banking lobby’s concerns over Connectia are “overstated and driven by big-bank interests.”
“The risks to consumers of stablecoins are being exaggerated in the name of protectionism by big banks of their dominance in western finance,” Stadelmann said. “Stablecoins decentralize money, and help decrease reliance on incumbent banks.”
Regulators should foster innovation while “enforcing sensible rules like the GENIUS Act,” he said, arguing that stablecoins serve “unbanked populations” and can “minimize bank-run risks” through on-chain transparency.
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