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Welcome to Goodwin's Financial Services News Roundup. Our newsletter highlights important legal, regulatory, and business developments related to financial services and banking.
1 Treasury Seeks Public Comment on Implementation of the GENIUS Act
On September 18, the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, seeking public comment related to Treasury's implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The GENIUS Act tasks Treasury with issuing regulations that encourage innovation in payment stablecoins while also providing an appropriately tailored regime to protect consumers, mitigate potential illicit finance risks, and address financial stability concerns. While the notice does not implement any new requirements under the GENIUS Act, it does provide the public with an opportunity to submit comments, including data and other information, that may be useful for Treasury to consider. The notice builds upon the Request for Comment on Innovative Methods to Detect Illicit Activity Involving Digital Assets issued by Treasury on August 18, which remains open for comment until October 17.
2 FinCEN Issues Proposed Rule to Postpone Effective Date of Investment Adviser Rule
On September 19, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to postpone the effective date of its Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Program and Suspicious Activity Report Filing Requirements for Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers (IA AML Rule) from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2028. This two-year delay follows FinCEN's July announcement and August exemptive relief order. The IA AML Rule targets illicit finance risks from criminals and foreign adversaries exploiting the US financial system through investment advisers. FinCEN has postponed the IA AML Rule effective date to better tailor the rule to the diverse business models and risk profiles within the investment adviser sector. It aims to reduce compliance costs and regulatory uncertainty by conducting a comprehensive review of the rule's scope and substance through a future rulemaking process. FinCEN also intends to revisit the previously proposed joint rule establishing customer identification program rule requirements for investment advisers with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
3 OCC Announces Reorganization of Bank Supervision and Examination Group
On September 18, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced a significant reorganization of its Bank Supervision and Examination group. Effective October 1, the group will be divided into three separate lines of business, each led by a Senior Deputy Comptroller: Large and Global Financial Institutions, supervising institutions with over $500 billion in assets and those with a foreign parent company; Regional and Midsize Financial Institutions, supervising institutions with between $30 and $500 billion in assets; and Community Banks, supervising institutions with up to $30 billion in assets. Additionally, the Office of the Chief National Bank Examiner will now be composed of five divisions, under the control of the following positions: (1) Deputy Comptroller for Supervision Systems and Analytical Support, (2) Deputy Comptroller for Credit Risk, (3) Deputy Comptroller for Compliance and Operational Risk, (4) Chief Economist and Deputy Comptroller for Economics, and (5) Chief Accountant and Deputy Comptroller for Capital, Market Risk and Asset Management. Further, the Office of Financial Technology will now report directly to the Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief National Bank Examiner. Acting Senior Deputy Comptrollers are expected to be selected in early October.
4 CFPB Updates Procedures for Determining Nonbank Supervision
On September 25, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule, effective October 27, rescinding most of its prior amendments governing the supervisory designation procedures, including with respect to Notices of Reasonable Cause, withdrawal of notices, time or word limits, multi-respondent proceedings, and issue-exhaustion requirements, and restoring procedural flexibility and key features of the CFPB's pre-2022 framework. Most notably, the final rule removes the CFPB Director's right to publicly release supervisory designation decisions, orders, and related materials, which will now be treated as confidential. The rule also restores the role of a recommending official designated by the CFPB Director to issue a recommended determination before the Director makes a final decision on designation and requires that the recommended determination and final determination be made available to the nonbank respondent, along with the Director's rationale for the final decision.
5 CFPB Publishes Semiannual Regulatory Agenda
On September 22, the CFPB published its Semiannual Regulatory Agenda as part of the Spring 2025 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, outlining regulatory matters that the CFPB anticipates, as of April 21, to have under consideration between June 2025 and May 2026. The publication notes 25 items across the rulemaking spectrum, including the CFPB's May 15 withdrawal of its December 2024 notice of proposed rulemaking on "Protecting Consumer Information in the Consumer Reporting Marketplace (Regulation V)". Key "Final Rule Stage" initiatives include amendments to remittance transfer disclosures under Regulation E, revisions to mortgage servicing under Regulation X, and interagency standards on financial data transparency. At the "Proposed Rule Stage," CFPB plans include revisiting the 2017 Payday Lending Rule, reconsidering aspects of its personal financial data rights framework, and refining procedures for nonbank supervisory designation. The Agenda also highlights several "Prerule Stage" projects, including rulemaking on coerced debt reporting under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, potential amendments to Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act servicing provisions, and defining larger participants in auto finance, debt collection, consumer reporting, and international money transfers. The Agenda also identifies long-term work on mortgage ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage rules, as well as potential action under Dodd-Frank section 1031 to address unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. The CFPB noted that the Agenda reflects priorities as of April 2025 and is non-binding, with a Fall 2025 update expected to refine and extend its rulemaking calendar.
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