OCC Proposes Applying the Bank Secrecy Act to Stablecoin Issuers

According to PYMNTS, on June 22, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a proposed rulemaking requiring payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) under its supervision to comply with provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the GENIUS Act, and mandating that they implement anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, sanctions programs, and reporting requirements administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The rule would also establish an OCC supervisory and enforcement framework for PPSIs’ AML/CFT obligations and clarify coordination mechanisms between the OCC and FinCEN in enforcement actions. Previously, the OCC had jointly sought public comment with the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) regarding requirements for stablecoin issuers to establish customer identification programs.