US Banks Request Delay in Implementation of Stablecoin Regulatory Framework

The cryptocurrency sector is witnessing increased involvement from bankers in its 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 implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, enacted last year. In a letter addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, US bankers are requesting extended comment periods of at least 60 days after the completion of another rule-making effort by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC's initiative to establish a rule for overseeing stablecoin issuers is crucial to 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 rule-making effort 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, argue 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 slated to be implemented by 2027, although it is not uncommon for federal agencies to grant extensions on comment periods for complex rules.

The Treasury Department has not immediately 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 so far managed to delay the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for months and potentially jeopardize its chances of becoming law this year.