The U.S. Department of the Treasury published an interim final rule on September 30, 2026, on behalf of the Stablecoin Certification Review Committee, prescribing the form of certifications that state payment stablecoin regulators submit under section 4(c) of the GENIUS Act and the process for the Committee to approve or deny them.
The rule is document 2026-19966, RIN 1505-AC97, docket TREAS-DO-2026-0562. It is effective on the Federal Register publication date, September 30. Certifications will not be accepted until after Paperwork Reduction Act approval of the information collection, and Treasury will post a notification on its website when acceptance begins. Comments must arrive on or before November 30, 2026, captioned “GENIUS Act SCRC Procedures,” through regulations.gov. The public-inspection text and the Federal Register document are the primary sources. VitalLaw’s September 29 note tracks the same filing.
Who can choose a state regime
The GENIUS Act (Pub. L. 119-27) was enacted on July 18, 2025. The rule states that the Act takes effect on January 18, 2027, when issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States will generally be unlawful unless the issuer is a permitted payment stablecoin issuer. Treasury’s separate proposal on issuance, offer, and sale is 91 Fed. Reg. 53368.
Section 4(c) (12 U.S.C. 5903(c)) is the state door. A state-qualified payment stablecoin issuer with a consolidated total outstanding issuance of payment stablecoins of not more than $10 billion may opt for state regulation if the state payment stablecoin regulator submits a certification, including an attestation that the regime meets Treasury’s substantial-similarity criteria, and the Committee approves the regime as meeting or exceeding the standards in section 4(a) (12 U.S.C. 5903(a)).
The Secretary of the Treasury chairs the Committee. The other members are the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, or the Vice Chair for Supervision if the Board Chair delegates, and the Chairman of the FDIC.
The procedures are new 12 CFR part 1522, published by Treasury as the chair’s agency. On April 3, 2026, Treasury proposed the similarity principles at 91 Fed. Reg. 16844 (document 2026-06489), for a future part 1521. The rule still treats those principles as a proposal.
What a state files
An initial certification under § 1522.10(b) needs an Appendix A attestation signed by an authorized representative, a narrative on how the regime meets each substantial-similarity criterion, citations and where needed copies of the statutes, regulations, and guidance (including whether each guidance document binds state qualified issuers), and anything else the Committee requires to decide. One checkbox marks the attestation as conditional on further state action. The rule says the Committee will not process a conditional attestation until the state files an amended one.
The package goes by email to the address posted on Treasury.gov. The information collection is listed as OMB control number 1505-NEW. Treasury says it will submit that collection to OMB for review. Appendix B is the attestation for the annual recertification.
The 30-day decision and the annual filing
Once the Committee treats a package as submitted, it approves or denies it not later than 30 days later. Under § 1522.10(d) the filing is not submitted, and that clock does not start, until every required item is in. The Committee says when that has happened and may ask for more at any time, in its sole discretion.
An initial certification is approved only if the Committee unanimously determines that the regime meets or exceeds section 4(a).
The annual recertification is due during the calendar quarter of the approval anniversary. Approval in February means a filing between January 1 and March 31 of each later year. Appendix B confirms the initial certification and flags what § 1522.2 calls a material change in the state regime or a significant change in circumstances. A material change, by itself, is not a significant change in circumstances.
If the annual recertification is not filed on time, § 1522.10(c)(3) deems the approval suspended.
The Committee may deny a recertification only if there has been a material change or a significant change in circumstances since the prior certification, and that change means the regime will not promote the safe and sound operation of the state qualified issuers it supervises. The preamble treats a first denial of a recertification differently from a missed filing: while the cure window is open, that denial does not suspend the existing approval.
A state that had a prudential regime for digital assets or payment stablecoins in effect on or before January 14, 2026, within 180 days of enactment, can mark Appendix A for expedited processing. Section 1522.10(e)(4) says the Committee will endeavor to process those initial certifications on an expedited timeline after the Act takes effect.
Denial, the two-year cure, and January 18, 2028
A denial comes with a written explanation detailed enough for the state to see what it would have to change to meet or exceed section 4(a). The regulator then has not less than 180 days from notice to make those changes and resubmit.
If the denial rests on an Act of Congress, or on a change in a relevant federal regulation, interpretation, or order under Treasury’s similarity principles, the cure period is the later of those 180 days or two years from enactment or from publication of the federal material.
A second denial brings another written explanation not later than 30 days after that denial. The state payment stablecoin regulator may appeal it to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and may also file a new certification under part 1522.
Section 4(c)(4)(A) requires the initial certification “not later than one year after the effective date of this Act.” The Committee treats that date as January 18, 2028, and its interim reading, open for comment, is that any filing by then, even a conditional or incomplete one, meets that statutory clock. Substantive review still waits until the state amends that filing to include everything § 1522.10(b) requires. The Committee points to a June 16, 2026 letter from seven U.S. senators, including cosponsors of the Act, arguing that section 4(c) should not work as a one-time window.
What is still open
A state cannot file under this rule yet. Treasury has said the website notice comes after Paperwork Reduction Act approval. Comments on the forms and the procedure run through November 30, 2026. The day before this rule’s publication date, the Federal Reserve Board published separate GENIUS proposals, including rules for Board-supervised issuers. Those are a different docket.
The September 30 text is the procedure. The Treasury.gov notice is what opens intake. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, hold, or redeem a stablecoin.
