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Ethan G. Ostroff

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Ethan’s practice focuses on financial services litigation and compliance counseling, as well as digital assets and blockchain technology. With a long track record of successful litigation results across the U.S., both bank and non-bank clients rely on him for comprehensive advice throughout their business cycle.

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On February 25, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a 376‑page notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act for entities under its jurisdiction. The proposed rule would create a comprehensive framework for “payment stablecoin” issuers supervised by the OCC, foreign payment stablecoin issuers accessing the U.S. market, and certain custody activities by OCC‑regulated banks. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on March 2, with the 60-day comment period ending on May 1, 2026. The NPRM also poses more than 200 specific questions for public comment on definitions, activities, reserves, liquidity, and other key design choices.

On April 21, four major banking trade associations — the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Consumer Bankers Association, and Independent Community Bankers Association (collectively, the associations) — sent a joint letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requesting an additional 60 days to comment on three key proposed rules implementing the GENIUS Act after the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issues a final rule implementing the GENIUS Act for entities subject to the OCC’s jurisdiction. These rulemakings address, respectively, how to determine whether state stablecoin regimes are “substantially similar” to the federal framework (discussed here), prudential standards for FDIC‑supervised permitted payment stablecoin issuers and insured depository institutions, and Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and sanctions compliance program requirements for stablecoin issuers.

Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Young Kim (R-CA) and Sam Liccardo (D-CA) introduced the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency Act of 2026 (PACE Act). The bill would create an optional federal framework for large state‑regulated payment companies, giving qualifying firms Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) supervision and potential direct access to Federal Reserve payment rails, in exchange for bank‑like prudential and customer‑protection standards. It is an early‑stage proposal with uncertain prospects but significant implications for nonbank payments and bank–fintech partnerships.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) jointly issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to modernize anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance program requirements. The proposed rule is intended to align their rules with FinCEN’s parallel amendments under the Bank Secrecy Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (discussed here). FinCEN’s proposal lays out the big-picture requirements for AML/CFT programs under the Bank Secrecy Act, while the federal banking agencies’ proposal takes those rules and aligns them to their own supervisory and examination frameworks so they can actually oversee and enforce the requirements for financial institutions. Comments are due no later than June 9, 2026.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the broad-based principles set out in the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act for determining when a state-level regulatory regime for “state qualified payment stablecoin issuers” is “substantially similar” to the federal regulatory framework. That determination is the gateway for state-chartered, nonbank stablecoin issuers with up to $10 billion in outstanding stablecoins to operate primarily under state oversight rather than as federally supervised “permitted payment stablecoin issuers.” Comments will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

On February 11, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released a proposed rule to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) for federally insured credit unions (FICUs). Under the proposal, credit unions cannot issue payment stablecoins directly. Instead, only NCUA‑licensed “permitted payment stablecoin issuers” (PPSIs) that are subsidiaries of FICUs would be allowed to issue payment stablecoins, and FICUs would be limited to investing only in PPSIs licensed by the NCUA.

On January 29, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry (AG Committee), led by Chairman John Boozman (R‑AR), advanced S. 3755, the Digital Commodity Intermediaries Act (DCIA), on a party-line vote. The DCIA builds on the bipartisan, House-passed CLARITY Act to create a federal registration and compliance regime for key digital asset intermediaries. The DCIA also would provide a clear legal definition of “digital commodities” and establish a spot market digital commodity intermediary regulatory regime with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In the press release, Chairman Boozman framed the vote as “a critical step toward creating clear rules for digital asset markets” that protect consumers while allowing innovation to thrive.

In 2025, the U.S. digital asset landscape evolved more dramatically than in any year since the industry’s inception. A pro‑innovation White House, an active Congress, and key regulators — including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Department of…

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at clarifying the permissible activities of national trust banks. The proposal seeks to amend chartering regulations to explicitly state that national trust companies may engage in nonfiduciary activities, such as asset custody, without being required to obtain a full-service national bank charter. However, the proposed rule does not address what specific nonfiduciary activities are permissible, nor does it indicate whether a national trust company must engage in a minimum level of fiduciary activities.