OCC won’t delay World Liberty Financial charter review

• Key insight: The OCC’s review of World Liberty Financial will go on despite Democrats’ concerns about the Trump family’s conflict of interest. 
• Expert quote: “The OCC’s review is a sham.” — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. 
• Forward look: The OCC’s decision to proceed apace with WLF’s national trust charter application signals that the agency will review crypto and other de novo charters quickly. 

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency won’t delay its review of a national trust charter application from Trump family-connected crypto firm World Liberty Financial despite concerns about conflicts of interest. 

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Comptroller Jonathan Gould said in a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, that the OCC will not delay reviewing the World Liberty Financial bank charter application until after President Donald Trump divests from the firm and eliminates conflicts of interest involving himself and his family. 

“Congress has made clear that the OCC has a duty to act on the applications it receives in a timely manner,” Gould said in the letter. “The OCC intends to act consistent with this duty rather than your demand.” 

Gould said that it is “vital” that the OCC speedily reviews de novo bank charters. 

“This means adhering to the law and reviewing all applications, including applications to establish national banks, in an apolitical, nonpartisan and objective manner, supporting both innovative and traditional approaches to the very old business of banking,” he said. 

Warren and other Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about World Liberty Financial getting special treatment from bank regulators because of its connection to Trump and his family. In negotiations around an upcoming crypto market structure bill, some Democratic lawmakers have tried to insert ethics clauses that would beef up laws to prevent the president from benefiting from his or her position when it comes to crypto interests, an effort that has been soundly rejected by Republicans. 

“President Trump’s unprecedented crypto corruption has metastasized to the banking system. Comptroller Jonathan Gould – who serves at the pleasure of President Trump – is refusing to delay the review of World Liberty Financial’s bank charter application until Trump and his family divest from the company,” Warren said in a statement. “The OCC’s review is a sham. We have never seen financial conflicts of this magnitude and no crypto market structure legislation should pass Congress without guardrails to stop this kind of corruption.”