Regulators’ stablecoin rules require bank-style compliance

The Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have proposed rules that would require stablecoin issuers to operate with bank-style compliance. The proposals include anti-money-laundering and sanctions programs, Bank Secrecy Act obligations and regular reporting to a primary regulator.

The rules implement the GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025, which created a federal framework for payment stablecoins and limited issuance to companies approved as permitted payment stablecoin issuers. Treasury opened rulemaking in late 2025 and regulators issued detailed proposals during 2026.

In April 2026, FinCEN and OFAC issued a joint proposal to treat permitted issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act and to require a class of U.S. persons to maintain sanctions-compliance programs. The FDIC published a parallel rule on May 22, 2026, applying BSA obligations to issuers it supervises, including subsidiaries of state nonmember banks and state savings associations. The OCC released draft reporting forms in June 2026.

Under the OCC proposal, each issuer under its jurisdiction would file a confidential weekly report that lists issuance, redemptions, trading volume and reserve assets for every stablecoin it issues. Issuers would also submit a quarterly financial report resembling bank call reports. Firms with more than $50 billion outstanding would need audited annual financial statements, and the OCC would examine each supervised issuer at least once every 12 months. Regulators say weekly reporting will provide earlier visibility into reserve shortfalls and redemption stress and allow continuous oversight of issuance and liquidity.

The operational requirements would shift compliance to the center of stablecoin businesses. Permitted issuers would need systems and staff for customer identification, transaction monitoring, sanctions and counterparty screening, suspicious activity reporting, reserve documentation and regular data flows to a primary regulator. The GENIUS Act bars permitted issuers from paying holders interest or yield on the token; the OCC proposal would enforce that prohibition and would review affiliate programs that could be used to bypass it.

The new rules change the cost structure for stablecoin issuance. Firms that can afford legal teams, compliance officers, transaction-monitoring vendors, reporting platforms and durable banking relationships will already have built many required capabilities. Companies such as Tether and Circle have taken steps toward U.S.-compliant products or deeper regulated stances.

Smaller issuers face specific compliance pressures. A state-chartered nonbank issuer that surpasses $10 billion in circulation would generally be required to obtain a federal license. The FDIC estimates that five to 30 of the institutions it supervises could seek approval to issue through subsidiaries in the first few years. The U.S. stablecoin market is roughly valued at $320 billion.

The proposals are part of an implementation phase that will determine which companies operate under federal supervision and which may exit the market before the framework takes full effect in 2027. The proposed rules formalize many practices already used by large issuers while adding ongoing supervision and reporting obligations for all permitted issuers.