OCC GENIUS Act Final Rule: What Changes for Stablecoin Issuers.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued its OCC GENIUS Act final rule on 21 October 2026, setting out how payment stablecoin issuers under its jurisdiction will be licensed, reserved, capitalised and supervised. According to OCC Bulletin 2026-50, the rule takes effect on 18 January 2027, the same day the GENIUS Act itself becomes effective.

The OCC is the first federal payment stablecoin regulator to finalise its framework, while the Federal Reserve, FDIC and NCUA rules remain at proposal stage. That makes this rule the main reference point for banks, trust companies and fintechs deciding where to house a US stablecoin business, and the final text is noticeably more flexible than the February 2026 proposal.

What the OCC GENIUS Act final rule covers

Most of the framework sits in a new 12 CFR Part 15, with conforming changes to the OCC’s capital (Part 3), prompt corrective action (Part 6), assessment (Part 8) and practice and procedure (Part 19) rules. Part 15 covers permitted activities, reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits and reporting, custody, applications and registration, foreign issuers, revocation, and capital and operational backstops.

The rule applies to national banks, federal savings associations and federal branches and their subsidiaries, nonbank entities seeking approval as federal qualified payment stablecoin issuers, foreign payment stablecoin issuers, and state qualified issuers over which the OCC has regulatory or enforcement authority. Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements are not included: the OCC is handling those in a separate rulemaking, proposed in the Federal Register on 24 June 2026.

The final rule text records that the OCC received approximately 328 comments on its proposal. The comment period closed on 1 May 2026, but the agency kept accepting late comments until 1 July 2026. Commenters split most sharply on reserve diversification, the yield prohibition, redemption under stress and capital.

From proposal to final rule: the provisions that moved

An analysis of the rule by law firm Davis Wright Tremaine sets out the main changes between the proposal and the final text.

The net effect, in Davis Wright Tremaine’s reading, is a framework that is easier to enter on paper but that leans heavily on the OCC’s case-by-case supervisory judgment. The OCC also added a reservation of authority allowing it to waive or modify Part 15 requirements, and a new safety-and-soundness licensing factor focused on run risk and redemption capacity.

Reserves and redemption: fewer hard limits, more stress testing

The quantitative reserve rules are lighter than either option in the proposal, but they come with new obligations. Issuers must stress test their reserves, demonstrate that they can monetise reserve assets when needed, and hold a buffer where the make-up of the portfolio calls for one. Reserve deposits held at a parent bank receive no special treatment, because the OCC considers that they may carry more liquidity risk than other deposits.

The two-business-day standard for timely redemption is retained, with a clearer start and end point. Removing the automatic seven-day extension was a response to commenters who argued that any built-in freeze could accelerate a run. Instead, an issuer facing a spike of 10% of outstanding issuance within 24 hours must notify the OCC within 24 hours and may ask for more time, which the OCC expects to grant sparingly.

The stablecoin yield prohibition moves to supervision

The GENIUS Act bars a permitted payment stablecoin issuer from paying interest or yield to holders solely in connection with holding, using or retaining the stablecoin. The proposal would have presumed that certain arrangements with affiliates and related third parties breached that ban. The final rule drops the presumption and offers no list of permitted or prohibited structures.

That does not settle the question. The OCC reads “solely” on its plain terms, so payments made for other purposes are not automatically barred, but it will examine the substance of each arrangement at licensing and in supervision. This now puts the OCC at odds with the Federal Reserve, FDIC and NCUA, all of which proposed the rebuttable presumption. Until their final rules land, a bank subsidiary’s yield-sharing arrangements could be judged differently depending on its parent’s charter. The OCC also confirmed that the yield prohibition does not apply to tokenised deposits, which sit outside the GENIUS Act’s definition of a payment stablecoin.

Licensing routes for banks, trust companies and fintechs

National banks and federal branches

Insured national banks and federal savings associations cannot issue payment stablecoins directly and must use a subsidiary. The rule does not require a source-of-strength or capital maintenance agreement from the parent, and a subsidiary may rely on the parent’s risk management framework where it addresses Part 15. Insured federal branches must also issue through a subsidiary, while uninsured federal branches can apply directly.

National trust banks and nonbanks

Uninsured national trust banks can issue directly, one reason the national trust bank charter appeals to fintechs. A nonbank can apply directly to become a federal qualified payment stablecoin issuer. A state qualified issuer that grows past $10 billion in total consolidated outstanding issuance must move to the OCC framework within 360 days or stop issuing on a net basis, unless it obtains a waiver.

The application clock

The statute gives regulators 120 days to decide applications, and the final rule lets the OCC return applications that are not substantially complete 60 days after notice. The OCC generally expects to grant waivers of the prior-approval requirement to issuers already operating in the United States, but has not identified grounds for waivers for issuers not yet operating. Incumbents can therefore keep issuing while their applications are pending; new entrants must wait. The OCC’s own estimates assume roughly 10 OCC-regulated bank-affiliated issuers and 12 non-OCC-regulated bank-affiliated issuers, with about $272.3 billion of outstanding stablecoins entering its supervision in 2027.

OCC GENIUS Act final rule FAQs

When do OCC-supervised stablecoin issuers have to comply?

The final rule is effective on 18 January 2027, the same date the GENIUS Act takes effect. Issuers already operating in the United States can generally expect the OCC to waive the prior-approval requirement while their applications are pending. New entrants have no equivalent waiver and must wait for approval before issuing.

Can a stablecoin issuer share reserve income with an exchange or affiliate?

The final rule removed the proposed presumption that such arrangements breach the yield prohibition, so they are not automatically banned. The OCC will review each arrangement on its substance, at licensing and in supervision, and retains anti-evasion authority. Issuers should expect detailed questions on any payment that flows to holders through a third party.

How much of the reserve must be available as daily liquidity?

The final rule requires 5% daily liquidity, down from the 10% in the proposal’s mandatory option, alongside a 40% single-counterparty limit. Issuers must also stress test their reserves and show they can monetise reserve assets. A buffer may be required where the portfolio’s composition warrants it.

What is the minimum capital for an OCC-licensed stablecoin issuer?

Capital is set individually for each issuer, measured as GAAP tangible equity less deductions, with a floor of $5 million that applies for the life of the issuer. Issuers must also hold an operational backstop equal to 12 months of expenses, up to half of which can be funded with qualifying subordinated debt of five years or longer. Any shortfall must be reported to the OCC within 24 hours.

Does the OCC rule cover AML and sanctions compliance for stablecoin issuers?

No. Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements are being handled in a separate OCC rulemaking, coordinated with the Treasury. That proposal was published in the Federal Register on 24 June 2026 and has not been finalised.

For banks, the rule clarifies the subsidiary route and makes tokenised deposits, which sit outside Part 15 and the yield ban, a potentially faster and less capital-intensive first step. For fintechs and trust companies, a federal licence offers a single regulator and state licensing preemption, but at the cost of individualised capital, annual examinations for most issuers, and weekly and quarterly reporting. The unresolved yield question is likely to return to Congress, where it was central to the stalled market-structure bill covered in our report on the CLARITY Act cloture vote. For the statute behind the rule, see Inside the GENIUS Act.