OCC Moves to Bring Payment Stablecoin Issuers Under Bank Secrecy Act Compliance

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on June 22 released a proposed rule that would require payment stablecoin issuers (PSIs) it supervises to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, as well as relevant provisions of the GENIUS Act, according to PYMNTS. Under the proposal, covered PSIs would need to implement anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, sanctions compliance programs, and the reporting obligations administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The rule would also create an OCC oversight and enforcement framework for PSI AML/CFT compliance and spell out how the OCC would consult with FinCEN when pursuing enforcement actions. The OCC previously, alongside the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), solicited public comment on requiring stablecoin issuers to establish customer identification programs.