The American Bankers Association today offered several recommendations to improve a proposed rule governing what factors the Treasury Department will use to evaluate rules for state-qualified stablecoin issuers.
The Genius Act allows payment stablecoin issuers with a consolidated total outstanding issuance of less than $10 billion to opt for regulation under a state-level regulatory regime, provided that the state’s regime is “substantially similar” to the federal regulatory framework. The Treasury Department in March issued a proposed rule to grant states “wide latitude” in setting their frameworks.
Among its recommendations, ABA said the department should remove the proposal’s distinction between “uniform” and “state-calibrated” requirements and replace both with a single “meets or exceeds” standard for evaluating state regulatory regimes. The association also recommended that a state’s ability to enforce its regime be considered when evaluating applications from stablecoin issuers to be regulated by a state.
Other recommendations include:
- Adding a requirement that the application review body – the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee, or SCRC – maintain a public and continuously updated repository of applicants and approvals;
- New rulemaking to establish how the SCRC will review and approve applications;
- Adding a requirement for the SCRC to consult with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration on decisions;
- The establishment of baseline procedural rules that account for the evolving federal regulatory baseline.
