ICBA, others urge Fed to extend comment period for GENIUS Act proposals

ICBA and other groups urged the Federal Reserve to extend by 60 days the comment periods for two proposals implementing the GENIUS Act.

Details: In a joint letter, ICBA and the other groups said the Fed should extend the comment period for its prudential and applications proposals to Jan. 29, 2027, because:

• An OCC proposal that is the Fed’s benchmark for public comment on the prudential proposal is about to change.

• The proposals are substantial and will take time to carefully analyze.

Background: The Fed last month proposed two rules related to establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act.

• The first proposal would require that payment stablecoin issuers fully back their stablecoins with reserve assets such as short-term Treasury bills and other high-quality, liquid assets.

• The second proposal would establish a tailored application process for banks applying to issue payment stablecoins.

ICBA Advocacy: In response to earlier proposals by the OCC and FDIC, ICBA called on the FDIC to adopt a strict payment stablecoin framework and urged the OCC to strengthen its proposal to protect against stablecoin risks.