The American Bankers Association and 52 state bankers associations sent a letter to the Treasury Department asking for an extension of the comment deadline on the proposed rule to establish the principles under which it will determine whether a state-level regulatory regime is “substantially similar” to the federal framework, as required by the Genius Act.
Comments are currently due on June 2. The associations asked that the deadline be extended to 60 days after the OCC finalizes its rulemaking, on which Treasury’s proposal depends. The OCC will be the primary regulator of nonbank stablecoin issuers under the Genius Act. In the meantime, many state legislatures are working on stablecoin legislation but without the benefit of knowing what provisions Treasury will require.
“Treasury must send a strong signal to state legislatures that getting it right is more important than moving quickly to pass laws that might have to be amended later,” the associations wrote. “Rather than rush to an artificial conclusion, it would be better to cultivate a culture of ‘measure twice, cut once’ by creating the necessary conditions for states to legislate in the most productive fashion. Moreover, having a finalized OCC Genius rule in place when evaluating Treasury’s notice of proposed rulemaking would allow stakeholders to deliver relevant and ripe issues for consideration.”
In addition, the associations requested that Treasury clarify it will not penalize state regulators for filing an initial certification later than the one-year anniversary of the Genius Act’s effective date; or alternatively permitting them to file a status report by the one-year mark.
