US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to review any barriers that might be stifling fintech innovation or preventing access to banking partnerships and payment rails.

The order directs the Federal Reserve Board to evaluate the legal, regulatory and policy framework governing fintech and crypto firms’ access to Federal Reserve payment systems and submit a report to Trump within 120 days.

The governors have also been asked to assess the Federal Reserve’s legal authority to grant direct access to fintech and crypto firms and to explore “options for expanding such access to the extent permitted by law, subject to appropriate risk management requirements.”

Federal Reserve payment systems provide access to core banking infrastructure, making it easier to move money efficiently and reducing dependence on intermediary banks. Fintech and crypto firms have faced significant friction in accessing banking services. 

In one of the more extreme cases, they faced debanking, losing access to banking rails as part of what has been dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”

Source: Whitehouse.gov News

Review into bank partnership barriers 

As part of the order, over the next 90 days, the heads of each US federal financial regulator are asked to review regulations, orders, and no-action letters that may be preventing fintech firms from entering into partnerships with federally regulated institutions such as credit unions, broker-dealers, and investment advisers.

They are also required to review existing regulations, guidance, supervisory practices, and application processes and to flag any that could be updated “to facilitate innovation.”

“The United States is a global leader in financial innovation, driven in part by the rapid growth of financial technology and fintech firms,” Trump wrote in the executive order.  

“To foster this financial innovation, the federal government must update regulations to allow integration of digital assets and innovative technology into traditional financial services and payment systems.”

The Trump administration has walked back many of the policies that led to crypto debanking. A US think tank, the Cato Institute, found in January that most debanking cases in the US resulted from government pressure rather than individual banks’ policies.

Streamlined applications for bank, credit union charters

The heads of the federal financial regulators are also asked to review regulations, guidance documents, orders, and no-action letters that could be amended to streamline applications for eligible fintech firms seeking bank charters, credit union charters, deposit or share insurance, and other federal licenses.

Related: Crypto lobby backs formal removal of ‘reputation risk’ from bank examinations

A national bank trust charter authorizes a financial institution to engage in fiduciary activities such as trust services, custody and asset safekeeping.

In December, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved five applications for crypto-related national trust banks, including First National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos.

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