US Banks Request Delay in Implementation of Stablecoin Regulatory Act

The US banking sector is increasingly involved in the crypto industry's key regulatory endeavors, with a coalition of bank trade associations recently petitioning the US Department of the Treasury to prolong the public comment period for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. In a letter addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers have requested that the comment periods for three distinct GENIUS Act rule proposals be extended to at least 60 days after the completion of another rule effort by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). 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. The bankers argue that all these efforts are 'directly contingent on the OCC's final framework' and that the collective regulatory work represents a complex and extensive body of rules. The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, have stated that their comments will be more comprehensive and useful to the agencies if they have sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and against the finalized OCC framework. The GENIUS Act is slated to be implemented by 2027, although federal agencies often grant extensions for complex rules. The Treasury Department has not responded 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, which has delayed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months and potentially jeopardized its chances of becoming law this year.