The FDIC today proposed rulemaking to establish a process under which banks and savings institutions can seek agency approval to issue stablecoins through a subsidiary, as allowed by the GENIUS Act passed by Congress earlier this year.
According to a staff summary of the proposal, institutions would be required to submit applications with a description of the proposed payment stablecoin and the proposed activities of the subsidiary of the applicant. The applications must list relevant financial information of the subsidiary; a description of its ownership and control structure; and relevant policies, procedures and customer agreements, including for custody and safekeeping. Institutions must also submit an engagement letter with a registered public accounting firm.
The FDIC would notify an applicant as to whether the application is considered substantially complete no later than 30 days after it was submitted. The agency must make a determination on whether to approve the request no later than 120 days after an application is deemed substantially complete.
“This proposed rule is the FDIC’s first action to implement the GENIUS Act,” FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill said in a statement. “In the months ahead, we expect to issue a proposed rule to establish the statutorily mandated capital, liquidity and risk management requirements for subsidiaries of FDIC-supervised institutions that are approved to be [permitted payment stablecoin issuers], among other GENIUS Act-related workstreams. We will also continue to explore ways to provide regulatory clarity regarding activities related to digital assets and tokenized deposits more broadly.”
Comments on the proposal are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
