// definition
National trust bank
A US national bank limited to trust company operations
Short definition
A US national bank whose activities are limited to trust company operations and authorised related activities, chartered and supervised by the OCC. Its services may include fiduciary administration and custody. The charter alone does not establish a product’s insurance coverage or grant access to a Federal Reserve account.
risk atlas
Knowledge map
Intuition
The charter sets the permitted scope of the institution; customer rights also depend on the product, contract and applicable protections.
Why it matters now
The OCC rule effective April 1, 2026, aligns the regulatory text with trust company operations. Proposed activities and their legal authority remain subject to individual review. The February 13, 2026 Protego decision granted preliminary conditional approval; its requirements include at least $15 million in Tier 1 capital.
Related analyses
Related guides
- Reading a bank’s soundnessSeparate capital, liquidity and deposit protection.
Primary sources
- OCC, national trust bank final rule91 FR 9977: trust company operations, related activities and licensing review.
- OCC, Protego decision CD1366Preliminary conditional approval, pages 1 and 8: opening and capital/liquidity requirements.
- FDIC, Your Insured DepositsEligible deposits, ownership categories and the exclusion of crypto assets.
- Fed, May 20, 2026 payment account proposalEligibility and account approval are separate from a bank’s charter.