OCC and Treasury issue proposed rules implementing the GENIUS Act
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a proposed rule on 25 February 2026 implementing the GENIUS Act, consolidating reserve, redemption, audit and supervision requirements for payment stablecoin issuers in a new 12 CFR Part 15. The Treasury followed in April 2026 with proposals on state regulatory regimes and on illicit-finance controls.
What happened
OCC Bulletin 2026-3 announced a notice of proposed rulemaking implementing the GENIUS Act. Most requirements are consolidated in a new Part 15 of the Comptroller's regulations covering reserve asset composition, redemption obligations, risk management, audit and reporting, custody, and the supervisory framework. The proposal's scope covers national banks and Federal savings associations and their subsidiaries, Federal branches of foreign banks, foreign payment stablecoin issuers, nonbanks approved as Federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers, and state qualified issuers falling under OCC jurisdiction. The Treasury issued a separate notice of proposed rulemaking in April 2026 on the standards a state regime must meet to be treated as substantially similar to the Federal framework, which determines whether state-chartered issuers can operate nationally without a Federal licence. A further Treasury proposal addressed illicit-finance controls for payment stablecoins. Law firm trackers listed several further rulemakings still outstanding.
Why it matters
The GENIUS Act set the perimeter; these rules set the economics. Reserve asset eligibility determines the yield an issuer earns and therefore what it can pay distributors, and the redemption timetable determines how much liquidity risk sits with the issuer rather than the holder. Both are the levers that decide whether regulated stablecoins can compete with bank deposits and money market funds on price. The state-equivalence question is the structural one. If state regimes are readily certified as substantially similar, the United States gets a dual-track market with state-chartered issuers at scale; if they are not, issuance concentrates in federally supervised institutions and the cost of entry rises materially.
What is not settled
Final rules had not been adopted as of late July 2026; the treatment of yield-bearing arrangements and the list of acceptable state regimes remain open.
Institutions in this story
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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Regulator
Independent bureau of the US Treasury created by the National Currency Act of 25 February 1863, which charters, regulates and supervises national banks, federal savings associations and the federal branches and agencies…
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United States Department of the Treasury
Regulator
The executive department established by the first session of Congress in 1789, responsible for federal revenue, the issuance of government securities through the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and, under the GENIUS Act,…
On the record
OCC proposes rules implementing the GENIUS Act
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a proposed rule implementing the GENIUS Act, codifying most requirements in a new 12 CFR Part 15 and amending Parts 3, 6, 8 and 19. The proposal covers permitted activities, reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits, reports and supervision for permitted payment stablecoin issuers, and applies to national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and agencies, foreign issuers and non-bank applicants for federal issuer approval.