The US Treasury has proposed rules bringing payment stablecoin issuers under Bank Secrecy Act AML and sanctions obligations for the first time.
On 8 April 2026, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that classifies permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) as financial institutions subject to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The proposed rule implements the AML/countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) provisions of the GENIUS Act — the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act — which was signed into law on 18 July 2025 and established the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in the US.
Compliance requirements and technical obligations
According to the Anti-Money Laundering Network, under the proposed rule, PPSIs would be required to establish and maintain AML/CFT programmes covering internal policies, risk assessment processes, and ongoing customer due diligence. Programmes must be subject to independent testing, and issuers must appoint a US-based AML/CFT officer. Individuals with felony convictions relating to financial crimes would be barred from holding that role.
Reporting and recordkeeping obligations mirror those applicable to other financial institutions: issuers would be required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for primary market activity at a USD 5,000 threshold, file Currency Transaction Reports, comply with BSA recordkeeping rules for fund transfers of USD 3.000 or more, and transmit required data under the Travel Rule to other financial institutions.
A provision specific to the GENIUS Act requires issuers to maintain technical capabilities to block, freeze, and reject transactions that violate federal or state law or any lawful order from regulators or law enforcement. These controls would apply across both primary and secondary stablecoin markets.
On the sanctions side, OFAC is requiring PPSIs to implement a compliance programme structured around five elements: senior management commitment, risk assessment, internal controls, testing, and training. Existing special measures targeting specific jurisdictions and institutions would also apply to PPSIs.
Oversight, enforcement, and related regulatory actions
FinCEN has indicated it will generally not pursue enforcement actions against issuers whose programmes meet the proposed standards, absent significant or systemic failures. The agency would play a central oversight role and must be notified before other regulators take major supervisory actions.
The NPRM sits alongside two related Treasury actions published in the preceding months. In March 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued proposed prudential standards covering reserve asset requirements. In early April 2026, Treasury published a separate NPRM establishing principles for state-level regulatory regimes, allowing issuers with less than USD 10 billion in outstanding stablecoins to elect state oversight under an approved framework.
The GENIUS Act also sets reserve and reporting requirements: PPSIs must hold reserves in cash or permitted assets, including Treasury securities, repurchase agreements, government money market funds, bank deposits, or tokenised equivalents, and publish monthly reports examined by registered public accounting firms. CEO and CFO certification of those reports is required.
Foreign issuers seeking to offer stablecoins in the US market would need to operate under a comparable regulatory regime as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, register with the OCC, and hold reserves in US financial institutions.
The NPRM is expected to be published in the Federal Register shortly, with a 60-day public comment period to follow. Issuers including Circle and Tether, along with new market entrants, will need to assess the proposed requirements against their existing compliance structures.
