Sony Bank wins preliminary U.S. approval for stablecoin trust unit

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Sony stablecoin trust approval

Highlights

Sony Bank received preliminary OCC approval on July 2 to establish Connectia Trust, a U.S. trust bank subsidiary for issuing dollar stablecoins.
Connectia Trust intends to launch in July but will not conduct business or issue stablecoins until final OCC and other required approvals are secured.
Large banks, including Standard Chartered and Circle, develop stablecoin infrastructure while the CLARITY Act's odds of passage by 2026 fall to 50% amid industry and legislative criticism.

U.S. trust bank plan and launch timeline

As reported by Cointelegraph, citing Sony Financial Group, Sony Bank has received preliminary approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on July 2 to establish Connectia Trust, National Association, a new U.S. national trust bank subsidiary for issuing and managing U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins.

The unit will be wholly owned by Sony Bank and is part of the group's longer-term effort to build a digital asset business foundation. Sony Financial Group says the subsidiary is scheduled to launch this month, but Sony Bank also says no business activity or stablecoin issuance will take place before it secures final approval from the OCC and any other required authorizations.

The move follows an earlier step in March, when Sony Bank signed a memorandum of understanding with stablecoin issuer JPYC Inc. to study whether the yen-pegged token can connect more directly with the bank's deposit rails. That indicates Sony is exploring both U.S. dollar and Japanese yen stablecoin uses as it expands its digital finance strategy.

Banking sector pushes stablecoin integration

Large financial institutions are continuing to test stablecoin infrastructure even as the U.S. regulatory environment remains unsettled. Last Thursday, Standard Chartered and USDC issuer Circle said they had developed a system allowing institutions to mint and redeem USDC through a bank-led onboarding process, letting clients access the stablecoin through Standard Chartered's platform instead of opening separate Circle accounts.

At the policy level, progress on the CLARITY Act, a proposed U.S. framework for digital assets, remains slow. Galaxy Digital has cut its odds of the bill becoming law in 2026 to 50%, while its head of research, Alex Thorn, warns the measure may not get enough floor time before the Senate begins its four-week recess on Aug. 8.

The bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May, but it faces criticism from most Democrats and from parts of the banking industry over concerns that crypto firms could offer yield on stablecoins without meeting the same standards as traditional financial institutions. In June, more than 200 crypto companies and related groups urged the Senate to pass the legislation, while JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in May that banks will continue to oppose the current version and that crypto firms offering yield-bearing products should seek banking charters.

In our earlier coverage of European banks’ growing use of synthetic risk transfers (SRTs), we explained how lenders are using these structures to shift portions of loan risk to outside investors while keeping the loans on their balance sheets. We noted that this has delivered meaningful risk‑weighted asset relief and supported new lending capacity, even as supervisors warn about opacity and the possibility that risk may not fully leave the banking system.

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