American Bankers Association: OCC’s GENIUS rules ‘undermine’ US Congress Banking advocacy organizations are pushing back against the OCC’s finalized rules on a stablecoin law, arguing against changes to provisions on yield.
A lobbying group for US banks has weighed in on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) recently finalized rules on payment stablecoin issuance and custody, arguing that the regulator’s interpretation went against Congress’ intent
In a Wednesday notice, the American Bankers Association (ABA) said that while the OCC’s final rules implementing the GENIUS Act included “several positive steps,” the banking group remained critical of provisions related to stablecoin yield. The regulator dropped a provision that would have established a presumption that certain third-party arrangements violated the law’s ban on yield payments. “The final rule removes the OCC’s originally proposed safeguards that would have addressed indirect arrangements involving affiliates, exchanges and other distribution partners,” said ABA. “As a result, payment stablecoin issuers can provide economically equivalent yield while technically avoiding the statutory prohibition. The OCC also declined to adopt a broader presumption against arrangements designed to circumvent the ban.” The group added: “Those gaps risk undermining the distinction Congress drew between payment stablecoins and traditional bank deposits, threatening the funds banks use to make the loans that drive the US economy.” Stablecoin rewards were one of the key issues lawmakers and interest groups debated before and after GENIUS passed Congress in July 2025, and they continue to face scrutiny amid discussions of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill currently in limbo after a failed procedure vote in the Senate last month.
Notably, the Blockchain Association approved of the change to yield prohibition, arguing that the OCC “[brought] the final rule more closely in…