United Texas Bank has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to convert to a national bank, as the Dallas-based institution looks to expand its role in correspondent banking, digital asset services and stablecoin infrastructure.
The OCC approved the conversion alongside consent from the Federal Reserve Board and the Texas Department of Banking. United Texas Bank has also been approved to exercise full trust powers, allowing it to establish a trust department and extend its custody and fiduciary services.
The conversion is expected to be completed within the next month, subject to remaining requirements and supervisory conditions.
For United Texas Bank, the national charter creates a broader operating model than the trust-only structures pursued by some digital asset firms. Trust-only institutions are generally unable to accept customer deposits, access Federal Reserve master accounts or originate commercial loans.
By contrast, United Texas Bank says its national bank status will support services including FDIC-insured deposits, Federal Reserve master account connectivity, commercial lending, digital asset custody, stablecoin infrastructure and real-time settlement through its UTB ATOMIC network.
Trust powers expand custody services
The approval of full trust powers gives United Texas Bank scope to provide fiduciary services across traditional financial securities, digital assets and stablecoin-related activity.
That capability is aimed at institutional clients such as stablecoin issuers, digital asset investment funds, family offices and other organisations looking for custody or trustee services within a federally supervised banking relationship.
Scott Beck, chairman and CEO of UTB Financial Holdings, said: “This conversion is the foundation of an entirely new kind of bank. For 40 years, United Texas Bank has served its clients with discipline and institutional integrity. Today, we bring that legacy together with the most advanced digital banking infrastructure in the country.
“With our national charter, full trust powers, UTB ATOMIC real-time settlement, UTB PRISM SENTINEL proactive risk intelligence compliance system, and comprehensive stablecoin infrastructure, UTB is ready to serve the foreign financial institutions, digital asset firms, and AI-native enterprises that will define the next era of global finance.”
Focus on settlement and compliance
United Texas Bank is targeting institutional clients across digital assets, stablecoins, international correspondent banking and commercial banking.
Its UTB ATOMIC platform is described as a proprietary real-time settlement network for institutional clients. The infrastructure is intended to support faster payment processing while maintaining US regulatory screening requirements.
The bank is also promoting UTB PRISM SENTINEL, its compliance and risk intelligence system covering areas including BSA and AML monitoring. The system is designed to support onboarding and ongoing monitoring for clients using services such as US dollar clearing, settlement, custody, trust services and commercial lending.
Artificial intelligence is expected to play a role across anomaly detection, liquidity management, transaction monitoring and risk analysis.
Regulatory scrutiny
The approval was not unanimous. Federal Reserve Governor Michael S. Barr was the only board member listed as voting against the Fed’s decision not to object to the conversion.
In a separate statement, Barr said Dodd-Frank rules were designed to stop banks switching charters to avoid tougher supervision while subject to enforcement action.
“I do not believe the request for this charter conversion has made a compelling argument,” Barr said. “The issues raised by the public enforcement action include quite serious problems regarding the bank’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing practices.”
The Federal Reserve Board did not object to the conversion after the OCC submitted a supervisory plan for addressing the matters behind the enforcement action.
Stablecoin regulation
The conversion comes as the US develops a clearer regulatory framework for stablecoins and digital assets.
United Texas Bank pointed to the GENIUS Act, which established a federal framework for payment stablecoins, and the CLARITY Act, which is intended to provide legal definitions for digital commodities and securities.
The bank says its conversion was planned ahead of these legislative changes and forms part of a longer-term strategy to serve clients operating across traditional finance and digital assets.
Founded in 1986, United Texas Bank is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The bank serves institutional clients and has more than a decade of experience in international correspondent banking.
