A quintet of financial trade organizations asked the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to extend the comment period for its proposed rule intended to establish a process through which banks could request agency approval to issue stablecoins through a subsidiary.
The FDIC issued the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) on “approval requirements” in December as part of its efforts to begin implementing provisions of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) – legislation signed into law in July 2025 to create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
The trades noted their appreciation for the FDIC’s “effort to undertake this rulemaking quickly” but noted their concern that the agency has not yet issued a separate proposal to implement the law’s capital, liquidity, risk management and other prudential requirements, as required under Sec. 4 of the GENIUS Act.
“Our comments on the approval requirements NPR would be more comprehensive – and therefore more useful to the FDIC – if we could consider simultaneously the proposed substantive requirements that the FDIC would evaluate under this approval process,” the trades wrote.
The groups said they needed more time to consider how the proposal would interact with dozens of other rulemakings that other agencies will issue to implement the Genius Act.
Whereas comments are current due on Feb. 17, the associations requested that the deadline be moved back by either 60 days or 30 days after a separate rulemaking is issued addressing the capital, liquidity, risk management and other requirements.
The trades undersigned on the letter were the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, The Clearing House Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America.
These groups were among the scores of banking advocates who previously raised concerns about potential legal “loopholes” in the framework and urged lawmakers and federal agencies to heed their suggested remedies before its scheduled implementation in January 2027.
The organizations highlighted various concerns and recommendations in a 42-page response to a request for information regarding implementation of the GENIUS Act, issued by the U.S. Treasury last year.