FinCEN and OFAC Close GENIUS Act Stablecoin AML Comments June 9

FinCEN and OFAC open joint stablecoin AML rule for comment until 9 June

Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a joint proposed rule on 10 April 2026. It implements anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance requirements for permitted stablecoin issuers under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Public comments under Docket FINCEN-2026-0100 must reach regulators by 9 June 2026.

The GENIUS Act was signed into law on 18 July 2025. It directs the Department of the Treasury to issue compliance regulations scaled to each issuer's size and business model. The 9 June deadline is one of the last chances for firms, banks, and users to shape the FinCEN-OFAC rule before regulators finalize it.

Stablecoin issuers must meet Bank Secrecy Act standards under the proposal

Under the proposed rule, every permitted payment stablecoin issuer (PPSI) must be treated as a financial institution for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). That designation requires issuers to maintain AML compliance programs covering customer identification, suspicious activity monitoring, and transaction recordkeeping — the same obligations that apply to banks and money transmitters.

OFAC's portion of the joint rule separately requires each PPSI to maintain an effective sanctions compliance program. Issuers must screen transactions and counterparties against OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. The dual-agency structure creates two parallel compliance tracks for every stablecoin issuer operating in the United States.

Banks push to pause the comment period while Agora pursues OCC charter

According to Crypto.news, major U.S. banking groups asked regulators to pause several GENIUS Act comment periods. These groups want the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to finalize its primary stablecoin framework first. They argue that issuers cannot respond meaningfully to related proposals without an OCC baseline in place.

Stablecoin issuer Agora took a different approach. The company filed for a national trust bank charter with the OCC on 20 April 2026. The filing places Agora under direct federal oversight ahead of the rules' finalization.

"The charter is the regulatory layer that makes all of that possible at scale. Operating without a U.S. federal charter means renting the rails in the world's most important financial market.", 24 April 2026. — Nick van Eck, CEO and Co-founder, Agora

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