US OCC terminates 2022 order targeting Anchorage Digital over AML

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said it had issued an order terminating a consent order made against cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital in 2022.

In a Thursday notice, the OCC said it had dropped the order “to assure the safety and soundness” of Anchorage. The financial regulator’s April 2022 order was based on Anchorage’s “failure to adopt and implement a compliance program” in accordance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards. However, the OCC said the bank’s “compliance with laws and regulations does not require the continued existence of the order.”

“[W]e received—and have now resolved—feedback from regulators as we set the standard for federally-chartered custody of digital assets,” said Anchorage co-founder and CEO Nathan McCauley in a Thursday blog post, adding:

“With our consent order lifted, we’ve proven definitively that crypto and federal oversight are not mutually exclusive—and can in fact be stronger working in tandem.”

Thursday order terminating consent order against Anchorage Digital. Source: OCCAnchorage was the first US-based crypto company to receive a national bank charter issued by the OCC in January 2021 under former US President Joe Biden. Under President Donald Trump, the US Senate confirmed Jonathan Gould, the former chief legal officer of Bitfury, to head the regulator in July.

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The dropping of the consent order signaled the US government’s softening on crypto enforcement and regulation under the Trump administration.

The Federal Reserve said in August it would sunset a program launched specifically to monitor banks’ digital asset activities. The OCC, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation also issued a joint statement in July clarifying the risks to banks holding digital assets for clients.

Other crypto companies seeking national trust bank charters from the OCC included Paxos, Ripple Labs and Circle. Under the GENIUS Act, a bill to regulate payment stablecoins signed into law in July, the OCC and qualifying state regulators will offer a pathway to licensing for crypto companies.

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