ABA, associations seek agency alignment on Genius Act implementation

The National Credit Union Administration should coordinate with banking agencies to ensure that implementation of the Genius Act is substantially similar among all federal regulators of stablecoins for payments, the American Bankers Association and three other banking industry associations said today.

NCUA, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are currently considering rulemaking to implement the Genius Act, which created a regulatory framework for stablecoin payments. In a joint letterThe associations said that as different agencies establish regulations, they must ensure that any framework does not create an unequal playing field “or opportunities for regulatory arbitrage, unintended political consequences, or unenforceable or inconsistent requirements.”

“Primary federal regulators of stable payment coins should therefore resubmit for comment any aspects of their proposals that are inconsistent or conflict with each other to ensure that the overarching regulatory framework implemented by the Genius Act is appropriately robust, transparent, and consistent across the various agencies that have rulemaking authority under the statute,” the ABA said.

The associations also called on the NCUA to coordinate with the Treasury Department and other agencies to ensure compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions laws. Finally, they urged the agencies to coordinate various public comment deadlines on the proposed rules.