Category: Treasury

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced on Aug. 11 that it will prioritize new bank charter applications as part of a “community bank comeback” initiative. The effort seeks to reverse a steep decline in new bank formation that has left many communities without local banking options. De novo bank formation — the creation of entirely new banks — has been rare since the 2008 financial crisis due to regulatory uncertainty and high compliance costs. The OCC’s announcement signals a deliberate effort to lower barriers for qualified applicants. The initiative is expected to benefit rural and underserved communities

Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service jointly issued proposed regulations on Aug. 11 guiding employers on how to make contributions to the new Trump Accounts savings vehicle created under the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation. The proposed rules govern employer contribution mechanics, eligibility requirements, vesting schedules and the tax treatment of employer contributions for employees and their dependents. The regulations are open for public comment during the standard notice-and-comment period before finalization. Trump Accounts represent one of the most significant new savings vehicle introductions in years. The employer contribution rules will determine how broadly the benefit is adopted across the

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated multiple cryptocurrency exchanges on Aug. 7 for enabling financial transactions that supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets held by the designated entities and prohibit American individuals and businesses from transacting with them. OFAC said the exchanges facilitated illicit financial flows that directly benefited the IRGC’s operations. The designations reflect a continued federal focus on cryptocurrency as a vector for sanctions evasion and terrorist financing. Digital asset exchanges are subject to the same sanctions compliance requirements as traditional financial institutions under

The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network permanently eliminated the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement on Aug. 11, relieving millions of small businesses nationwide of a federal compliance obligation that had drawn fierce opposition since its implementation. The BOI rule, enacted under the Corporate Transparency Act, had required small businesses to disclose the identities of their beneficial owners to a federal database. FinCEN described the elimination as permanent, not a temporary suspension. The requirement had applied to an estimated 32 million small businesses and had faced significant legal challenges in multiple federal courts. Small business groups argued the rule imposed