Banks Push for Delay in Implementing Stablecoin Oversight Under GENIUS Act

The cryptocurrency sector often finds itself at odds with bankers over regulatory matters, and this time, a coalition of banking trade associations has urged the US Department of the Treasury to extend 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 addressed to the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, 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 efforts to implement a rule for overseeing stablecoin issuers have 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 'directly contingent on the OCC's final framework' and that the collective regulatory work is of 'extraordinary scope and complexity'. The banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute, stated that their comments would be more comprehensive and useful to the agencies if they had 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 it is not uncommon for federal agencies to grant extensions for comment periods on 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 dispute 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.