The cryptocurrency sector often finds itself at the center of regulatory efforts involving bankers, and this time, a coalition of US bank trade associations has petitioned the US Department of the Treasury to prolong the public consultation period for the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which was passed last year. In a letter sent to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp this week, US bankers have requested that the comment periods for three separate GENIUS Act rule proposals be extended to at least 60 days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) completes its rulemaking process.
The OCC's push to implement its rule for policing stablecoin issuers has significant implications for the outcome of other rules being pursued by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as well as a related rulemaking at the FDIC. According to the bankers, all these efforts are "directly contingent on the OCC's final framework." The collective efforts, in addition to regulatory proposals that have not yet emerged from the Federal Reserve and other agencies, "represent a body of regulatory work of extraordinary scope and complexity." The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, stated that their comments "will necessarily be more comprehensive, and therefore more useful to the agencies, if we have sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and to evaluate each against the finalized OCC framework." The GENIUS Act is scheduled to be implemented by 2027, although it is not uncommon for federal agencies to grant extensions for complex rules. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bank industry's request.
The same bankers are also engaged in a stablecoin-related debate with the crypto industry that has so far managed to delay the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months, potentially jeopardizing its chances of becoming law this year. Read More: The US Treasury has proposed demands that stablecoin firms be prepared to police suspicious transactions.