Morgan Stanley in New York has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter.
The investment bank has proposed forming Morgan Stanley Digital Trust to offer custody and related services for cryptocurrencies and other digital instruments. The trust bank is not seeking deposit insurance.
The proposed trust bank would support Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division, which serves individual investors, small- and midsize businesses and large institutions. MSDTNA would be an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley.
Over a three-year de novo period, the trust bank would focus on activities that would include the purchase, sale, swap and transfer of digital assets in support of client investment activity. The bank would also facilitate customer staking of digital assets on a fiduciary basis.