WASHINGTON—Treasury on Wednesday moved another step deeper into the post-GENIUS Act stablecoin framework, as FinCEN and OFAC jointly proposed rules that would treat permitted payment stablecoin issuers as financial institutions for Bank Secrecy Act purposes and require them to maintain anti-money-laundering and sanctions-compliance programs.
Treasury said the proposal is intended to support payment/stablecoin innovation while creating a tailored regime to address illicit-finance risk.
The proposal matters beyond crypto firms alone. It would formalize the expectation that stablecoin issuers operate more like regulated financial institutions, with compliance systems, controls and sanctions screening that look far more familiar to banks and credit unions than to lightly supervised fintechs. Treasury framed the rule as part of the GENIUS Act mandate to impose AML obligations on permitted payment stablecoin issuers, or PPSIs, and require effective sanctions/compliance programs.
For traditional financial institutions, analysts stated the broader message is that stablecoins are being pushed further into the regulated payments perimeter. The OCC already has a separate proposed framework covering stablecoin issuance and related activities for entities under its jurisdiction, while the FDIC this week proposed standards for FDIC-supervised issuers and clarified that deposits backing payment stablecoins would not receive pass-through deposit insurance for stablecoin holders.
That combination, analysts noted, suggests banks considering stablecoin strategies may see clearer rules emerge around issuance, custody, reserves and compliance, while institutions that stay out of issuance may still face new expectations as custodians, reserve depositories or service providers.
Credit unions are not on the sidelines entirely, either. NCUA has already put forward its own GENIUS Act-related proposal that would create a framework for applicants seeking approval to become permitted payment stablecoin issuers and would limit federally insured credit unions to investing in NCUA licensed issuers.