OCC finalizes GENIUS Act stablecoin rules before January 2027 implementation

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced final rules on Wednesday implementing the GENIUS Act for stablecoin issuers under OCC oversight. The requirements apply when the law becomes effective on January 18, 2027. The OCC said a separate announcement will specify when prospective issuers can submit applications and waiver requests.

An OCC bulletin identifies the covered payment stablecoin issuers as subsidiaries of national banks and federal savings associations, federally approved nonbank issuers and some state-qualified issuers. The bulletin also places foreign issuers and certain custody activities by OCC-supervised firms within the rule's scope.

A new section of OCC regulations contains most requirements, including standards for reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits and reporting. The section also addresses custody, applications, oversight of foreign issuers, and a capital and operational backstop. The framework establishes procedures for state-qualified issuers moving into federal oversight. The framework also specifies circumstances in which the OCC can withdraw an issuer's approval.

The final rule excludes Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements. The OCC and the Treasury Department will address those requirements through a separate rulemaking. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould described the framework as practical guidance for payment stablecoin innovation, backed by strong reserve, redemption and risk-management standards. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent likened the GENIUS Act to Abraham Lincoln's National Currency Act of 1863, which Bessent said created a national framework for currency issued by banks.

The OCC received hundreds of responses to the proposal from participants including crypto companies, community bankers, trade groups and academics. The OCC said the industry's early development warranted monitoring and changes to the framework when necessary.

The GENIUS Act became law in July 2025. The law prohibits payment stablecoin issuance in the United States by anyone without permitted-issuer status. The law also prohibits digital asset service providers from offering or selling stablecoins to Americans unless a permitted issuer or a qualifying foreign issuer issued the stablecoins.

The OCC published proposed rules in February and allowed 60 days for public comments. The proposal excluded anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Office of Foreign Assets Control proposed those requirements separately in April. The Treasury proposals would require issuers to operate anti-money laundering programs, report suspicious activity and maintain sanctions compliance programs.

Regulators did not meet the law's earlier July deadline to finalize rules. Gould said in August that the OCC intended to finalize the rule by November so application processing could begin in the new year.