The cryptocurrency sector is witnessing bankers playing a crucial role in its key regulatory endeavors, with a coalition of bank trade associations now requesting 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 addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers are seeking extended comment periods for three GENIUS Act rule proposals, with a minimum of 60 days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) concludes its rulemaking efforts.
The OCC's stablecoin issuer policing rule has significant implications for other rules 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 collectively represent a complex body of regulatory work.
The American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, among other banking organizations, emphasized that having sufficient time to evaluate the proposed rules against the finalized OCC framework will enable them to provide more comprehensive and useful comments to the agencies. With the GENIUS Act slated for implementation by 2027, the banking groups' request may not be unusual, given the complexity of the rules involved. 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 potentially jeopardized its chances of becoming law this year.