OCC issues final GENIUS Act rule for stablecoin issuers, effective 18 Jan 2027

What happened

On 21 Oct 2026 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a final rule implementing the GENIUS Act for payment stablecoin issuers and related activities under its jurisdiction. The rule and the Act take effect on 18 Jan 2027. The OCC published its proposal on 25 Feb 2026 and received approximately 328 comments. Two bulletins cover waivers, applications and reporting forms.

What changed

Most of the rule is a new 12 CFR 15. It sets standards on activities, reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits and reports, custody, applications, foreign issuers, revocation of approval, and capital and an operational backstop. It also amends 12 CFR 3, 6, 8 and 19.

An issuer's redemption policy must state that timely redemption may not exceed two business days following the date of the requested redemption. Only the OCC, or for a state qualified issuer the OCC, the Federal Reserve or the state regulator, can impose discretionary limits on timely redemptions.

Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions rules will follow in a separate rulemaking coordinated with the Treasury.

From 18 Jan 2027, issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States without being a permitted issuer carries criminal penalties. Under Bulletin 2026-51, an issuer with a substantially complete application pending with the OCC on or before 18 Jan 2027 may request a waiver. Any waiver can last no more than 12 months from that date. The OCC generally expects to waive the prior approval requirement for existing issuers operating in the United States, unless its review finds more compelling reasons to deny. It has not identified compelling, generally applicable reasons to waive other requirements, or to grant waivers to issuers not yet operating in the United States.

Who is affected

• National banks, federal savings associations and federal branches, and their subsidiaries.
• Nonbank entities that seek to be or are approved as federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers.
• State qualified payment stablecoin issuers for which the OCC has regulatory or enforcement authority under the Act.
• Foreign payment stablecoin issuers.
• OCC-supervised entities that conduct certain custody activities.

What happens next

The OCC will begin accepting applications and waiver requests once the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approves the application forms, and will announce the date in a press release. The OCC will say within 30 days whether an application is substantially complete, and says it is committed to acting no later than 120 days after that determination. It expects to act on waiver requests generally by 18 Jan 2027. Comments on revised reporting forms are requested within 30 days of Federal Register publication. Subject to OMB approval, weekly reports start with the 25 Jan 2027 report date and quarterly reports with 31 Mar 2027.