Sony’s conditional US trust charter reopens debate over bank-lite stablecoin rules

Sony Bank has secured preliminary conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Connectia Trust, National Association, a federally chartered subsidiary created solely to issue and manage a dollar-denominated stablecoin. The regulator’s decision, which stops short of final authorisation, positions a major global entertainment and technology conglomerate alongside Circle, Ripple and Paxos in the emerging contest for US national trust charters.

The approval matters beyond Tokyo because it signals that stablecoin issuance is no longer confined to native crypto firms. Banking industry groups and consumer advocates have previously warned that the trust charter structure allows issuers to acquire bank-like status without the deposit, lending and consumer-protection obligations that come with a full banking licence, according to Cryptopolitan.

A narrowly scoped charter

The OCC has granted only provisional approval, not clearance to begin operations. Connectia Trust will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Bank, Sony Financial Group’s online lending arm, capitalised with an initial $40 million, roughly ¥6.4 billion. Business operations are targeted to start in 2027.

Crucially, the charter application excludes traditional banking activities such as taking deposits, extending loans or processing payments. Its remit is confined to the issuance and management of dollar stablecoins. Sony has stressed that no commercial activity will begin until every required approval is in place.

“Until all approvals and other authorizations, including the OCC’s final approval, have been obtained, no business activities, including the issuance of stablecoins, will be conducted,” the company said in a statement.

Because the $40 million commitment exceeds 10% of Sony Financial Group’s capital, the parent company was required to disclose the plan to Japanese authorities under the country’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, Banking Dive reported.

From licensee to issuer of record

Sony already had a route into dollar stablecoins through a December 2025 partnership with California-based Bastion Platforms, which was set to act as issuer, custodian and reserve manager. Bastion itself is separately pursuing conversion to a national trust charter.

A federal charter of its own changes Sony’s position in that arrangement. Roman Goldstein, a director at the Klaros Group and a former OCC regulator, described the Connectia operation as the “first commercial-conglomerate ecosystem bank.” He noted that the charter makes Sony the “issuer of record,” giving the company direct communication with its federal regulator and control over its own compliance programme, rather than inheriting the regulatory risk of a third-party licence holder.

The structure would also allow Sony to earn income from reserve assets and could position it as a qualified issuer under the GENIUS Act, the US federal stablecoin framework. Evey Guo, a principal at FS Vector, said the charter lets Sony “control their own destiny,” managing issuance, custody, transfer and redemption under a single federal supervisor without relying on external money-transmitter licensees.

Commercial rationale and wider precedent

Sony’s stated interest in a dollar token centres on treasury operations, cross-border payments and in-app purchases across its entertainment businesses, including video games, anime, film and music, where a proprietary stablecoin could reduce reliance on card-network payment processing fees, according to American Banker.

Circle, Ripple and Paxos were among the first cohort granted trust licences in December, and Morgan Stanley is reportedly pursuing similar arrangements for its own digital-asset operations. The Sony case adds fresh momentum to a regulatory pathway that critics argue blurs the line between narrowly supervised payment infrastructure and full-service banking, a tension likely to draw further scrutiny as the OCC works through its final approval process.

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