Wise Group Plc’s application to become a national trust bank in the U.S. was rejected by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, delivering a setback for the fintech’s plans to expand in the U.S.

Wise shares in London dropped more than 10% when the market opened on Friday.

It’s the first denial of a major financial-technology firm’s national trust bank application under the Trump administration to be made public, as companies have flocked to try to obtain the charters. The regulator said Wise’s application, submitted in June 2025, presented “significant supervisory and compliance concerns,” according to a July 21 letter that was made public Thursday.

While the rejection doesn’t prevent Wise from reapplying for a charter in the future, the OCC’s major concern with the firm’s application was its anti-money laundering compliance program.

Specifically, the OCC mentioned a multistate settlement reached last July with regulators from New York, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Minnesota and Nebraska, in which Wise agreed to pay a $4.2 million penalty and correct aspects of its AML protections.

In a regulatory filing, Wise said that it has since “strengthened our local U.S. program, enhanced our investigation and reporting processes, improved the integrity of the data we collect from our customers and increased resourcing for our local compliance program.”

Wise said it plans to submit a new application to the OCC.

“Our business and compliance maturity have evolved significantly,” Wise said in the filing. “With digital assets, such as stablecoins, becoming more visible alongside existing payment rails, Wise’s infrastructure is well positioned to play an important interoperability role in this changing ecosystem.”