Sidley Represents Sony Bank in OCC Preliminary Conditional Approval for National Trust Bank Charter

Sidley represented Sony Bank Inc. in securing preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for the formation of Connectia Trust, National Association, a New York-based national trust bank. 

Connectia Trust, which is owned by Sony Bank, plans to focus primarily on dollar-backed stablecoin issuance and reserve maintenance, as well as stablecoin custody services, certain transactional services for custody customers, and fiduciary asset management services. The OCC’s approval represents a significant step in Sony Bank’s efforts to establish a U.S. trust company focused on digital asset activities. Before commencing operations, Connectia Trust must satisfy certain regulatory conditions, including capitalization and preopening examination requirements.

The preliminary conditional approval follows increased interest among financial institutions and digital asset firms in national trust charters as a potential framework for regulated stablecoin issuance and related crypto activities.

The Sidley team was led by Dave Teitelbaum, the co-head of Sidley’s Banking, Payments and Fintech practice, and included Matt Katz and Jordyn Singer. Other participants in the Sony Bank representation are Kyle Tillotson, Andrew Sioson, Michael Lewis, Jess Cheng, and Kristin Teager. Sidley has advised on this and other significant OCC national trust charter approvals involving digital asset and stablecoin-related activities, including the landmark approval from the OCC to convert Fidelity’s New York limited purpose trust company into a national trust bank licensed by the OCC to engage in a broad range of business activities in the digital assets space, part of a leading “first wave” of such approvals for a small number of new or converting digital asset trust banks.