Federal Reserve Doubles Down on Oversight of Crypto Activities for Banks
By Grant F. Butler, Jeremy McLaughlin, Anthony R.G. Nolan, and Judie Rinearson
The Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) issued Supervision and Regulation Letter 22-6 (“SR 22-6”), providing guidance for FRB-supervised banking organizations (referred to collectively herein as “FRB banks”) seeking to engage in activities related to cryptocurrency and other digital assets. The letter states that prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities, such FRB banks must ensure that their activities are “legally permissible” and determine whether any regulatory filings are required. SR 22-6 further states that FRB banks should notify the FRB prior to engaging in crypto-asset-related activities. Any FRB bank that is already engaged in crypto-asset-related activities should notify the FRB promptly regarding the engagement in such activities, if it has not already done so. The FRB also encourages state member banks to contact state regulators before engaging in any crypto-asset-related activity.
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