Joint Trades Letter re: Recommendations for Strong Procedural Rules Governing the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee Under the GENIUS Act

Dear Ms. Miller, Vice Chair Bowman, Chairman Hill, Comptroller Gould, and Chairman Hauptman:

The undersigned trade associations (the "Associations") write to share their views on the procedures that should govern the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee (the "SCRC" or "Committee") as it begins to exercise its responsibilities under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the "GENIUS Act" or "Act"). We urge the SCRC and its member agencies to adopt strong, transparent procedural rules before the Committee begins making determinations that will shape the payment stablecoin market for years to come.

The SCRC sits at the center of three of the Act's most consequential gatekeeping decisions. First, it determines whether a state's regulatory regime is substantially similar to the Federal framework, and thus whether issuers in that state may operate under state rather than Federal regulation. Second, the Secretary of the Treasury may make a comparability determination that permits foreign issuers to operate in the United States only upon a recommendation from each other SCRC member. Third, the SCRC decides whether a public or foreign company that is "not predominantly engaged" in financial activities may issue a payment stablecoin in the U.S. at all. In all contexts, the Act is nearly silent on how the Committee will reach and document its decisions. The Associations urge the SCRC to close that gap with robust procedural rules.

The terms of competition, the choice of supervisor, and the conditions of market entry all flow from the SCRC's determinations and approval authority. The process behind that authority is substance, not housekeeping. Weak or opaque procedures risk inconsistent determinations, an inadequate administrative record, and—most consequentially for the banking industry—a payment stablecoin issuer held to a lower effective standard than the one applied to banks under direct Federal supervision. Strong, durable procedures guard against each of these outcomes. They make the Committee's expectations clear and its determinations predictable for applicants and the broader industry alike, and, by grounding certification and approval in stable, articulable standards, they protect applicants and the parties who rely on their payment stablecoins from the shifting priorities of successive administrations.

This letter accordingly recommends that the SCRC adopt procedural rules governing all of its determinations before it acts, and sets out what those rules should require.

Download the letter to read the full text.