US Banks Request Delay in Implementation of Stablecoin Oversight Regulations

The US banking sector is increasingly involved in the crypto industry's key regulatory initiatives, with a coalition of bank trade associations recently petitioning the US Department of the Treasury to extend the public consultation period for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. In a letter to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers are seeking extended comment periods for three GENIUS Act rule proposals, requesting a minimum of 60 days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) completes its rulemaking effort. The OCC's stablecoin issuer policing rule has significant implications for other regulations being developed 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 contingent on the OCC's final framework and represent a complex and extensive body of regulatory work. The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, believe that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules together and against the finalized OCC framework will enable them to provide more comprehensive and useful comments to the agencies. The GENIUS Act is scheduled to come into effect by 2027, although extensions of comment periods for complex rules are not uncommon. The Treasury Department has not yet responded to the bank industry's request. Meanwhile, the same bankers are engaged in a stablecoin-related debate with the crypto industry, which has already delayed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months and may jeopardize its chances of becoming law this year.