US lawmaker calls for halt to WLFI bank charter

U.S. Representative Meeks has called on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt a bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for WorldLibertyFinancial (WLFI) pending an investigation into the company's ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Block reported. Rep. Meeks strongly criticized the connection between WLFI and the UAE. The call for a probe follows a $500 million investment in WorldLibertyFinancial by a member of the UAE's royal family, after which the U.S. authorized the sale of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia AI chips to the country. The OCC recently rejected a separate demand from a U.S. senator to launch a special investigation into the bank's chartering process.