Letter to the Treasury on State Regulatory Equivalency Under the GENIUS Act

Dear Ms. Miller,

The American Bankers Association (ABA) would like to supplement its earlier response to the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on GENIUS Act Broad-Based Principles for Determining Whether a State-Level Regulatory Regime Is Substantially Similar to the Federal Regulatory Framework (NPRM). ABA respectfully reserved the right to supplement the record with additional material, as an extension was not forthcoming. We are now following up on that front with this supplemental letter for Treasury’s consideration.

Clarification of Deadline for States to Submit an Initial Certification

ABA and 52 state bankers associations previously urged Treasury to clarify the actual deadline for states to submit the initial certification. ABA reiterates that point herein. As Treasury is aware, the GENIUS Act provides that "…not later than 1 year after the effective date of this chapter, a State payment stablecoin regulator shall submit to the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee an initial certification that the State-level regulatory regime meets the criteria for substantial similarity…" The referenced effective date is the earlier of: “(1) the date that is 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [July 18, 2025]; or "(2) the date that is 120 days after the date on which the primary Federal payment stablecoin regulators issue any final regulations implementing this Act."

Treasury could provide relief in this area by clarifying that there will be no penalties incurred for states submitting initial certifications after this point. The GENIUS Act itself does not prescribe any particular course for Treasury to take in this situation. Alternatively, Treasury could permit state payment stablecoin regulators to submit a status report on their efforts to create a state-level regulatory regime by the 1-year mark.

Download the letter to read the full text.