US Banks Cleared For ‘Riskless’ Crypto Transactions Following OCC Letter

The next time you go into your bank for a loan, don’t be surprised if your bank manager starts discussing the best crypto presales. Banks have officially been given the green light to offer crypto services, thanks to Interpretive Letter 1183 (IL 1183) issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This […]

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has circulated a letter directing banks and financial institutions to identify and close accounts of cryptocurrency transacting entities. The directive, which took immediate effect, threatens “severe regulatory sanctions” to financial institutions that fail to comply. Banks Taking Immediate Action Immediately following the letter’s publication, some banks and other financial service providers began complying with the directive. The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, tweeted that his company had received word from its Nigerian partners....

Following an investigation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has cleared Australian banks of colluding to deny banking services to local bitcoin companies in the country. An investigation requested by Senator Matthew Canavan suggesting the ACCC should look into the possibility of banks colluding together to close the bank accounts of bitcoin companies has resulted in the regulator concluding that the banks did no wrong, as reported by the Australian Financial Review. In response to the request, ACCC chairman Rod Sims wrote to the senator telling him that there was....

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board has issued new instructions for banks engaging in crypto asset activities that include running their plans past their Fed supervisor. The United States Federal Reserve Board issued a letter Tuesday to its supervisory officers, staff and the banks they supervise regarding activities with crypto assets. The letter covers the preliminary steps a bank must go through before engaging in activities with crypto and instructs banks to notify the board before proceeding with those activities.The letter, signed by the directors of the regulatory and community affairs....

Banks cleared over $2 trillion in "suspicious" transactions. How did crypto fare in comparison? The major banks who were mentioned in the recent FinCen leak were subsequently thrashed by the market today. According to the investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, over the 20-year period from 1997 to 2017, the listed financial institutions facilitated over $2 trillion worth of suspicious transactions. When this news broke out yesterday, it was a day of reckoning for many of these institutions.Stocks top-5 banks by the amount of suspicious....