OCC Genius Act Submission; HFSC Hearing; New SEC Proposed Rule; New Article from DEF Board Member; SEC Investor Advisory Committee Meeting; New FinCEN Report

OCC Submits GENIUS Act Rules for White House Review

On August 19, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) submitted final rules implementing the GENIUS Act to the White House for review, bringing the federal stablecoin framework closer to implementation. The final rules follow the OCC’s March proposed rule, which set out proposed requirements for payment stablecoin issuers under OCC jurisdiction covering licensing, reserves, capital, liquidity, risk management, custody, and disclosures. 

The submission marks another important step toward implementing the GENIUS Act, which established the first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Comptroller Jonathan Gould recently indicated during a fireside chat held at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium that the OCC was working “with great speed” to implement the GENIUS Act. Following White House review and publication of the final rules, banks and other prospective stablecoin issuers will have greater clarity on the requirements for operating within the new federal framework.

House Financial Services Committee Examined Economic Growth and Financial Innovation

On September 2, 2026, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled “Strengthening the American Economy: Promoting Growth, Opportunity, and Prosperity.” Witnesses included Circle President Heath Tarbet, Florida Bankers Association President and CEO Kathleen Kraninger, New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin, Mises Institute Senior Fellow Alex Pollock, and Professor Darrick Hamilton of the New School and AFL-CIO.

The hearing focused on financial innovation, capital formation, community banking, housing affordability, and the broader state of the economy. Tarbet argued that the GENIUS Act and additional digital asset market structure legislation would reinforce the dollar’s global role and support an emerging “internet financial system,” including agentic AI. Martin highlighted the NYSE’s work on tokenized securities, while Kraninger called for regulations that match the size and risk profile of community banks rather than imposing one-size-fits-all requirements.

Two additional House Financial Services hearings are scheduled for September 2026: “The Annual Testimony of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the International Financial System” on September 15, and “Examining the Future of Central Banking” on September 23.

The full September 2 hearing can be watched here, and the Committee Memorandum is available here.

SEC Proposes New Rules for Registered Transfer Agents

On September 1, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed the first major modernization of its rules governing registered transfer agents in decades. The proposal would update a framework written for paper certificates to reflect today’s environment, where most securities transactions are electronic, settle within one day, and may increasingly involve “blockchain-based recordkeeping and uncertified securities.” 

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the goal is to “streamline and modernize” the rules to reflect transfer agents’ current operations, including their use of blockchain technology. Commissioner Hester Peirce highlighted these provisions as tools for combating microcap fraud. She also focused on the transition toward onchain markets, requesting public comment on whether transfer agent rules should allow for digital wallet addresses in place of traditional physical address information.

The proposed rule can be found here and the fact sheet can be found here.

Rebecca Rettig: Three Lessons From Crypto For AI Attorneys 

On September 2, 2026, Rebecca Rettig, DEF Board Member and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer at Jito Labs, wrote a piece for Law360 for attorneys working in artificial intelligence. 

Rettig identified three key lessons from crypto that would be useful for AI lawyers: 1) learning to advise businesses during significant legal uncertainty, 2) understanding the debate between open and closed technological systems, and 3) developing expertise across the wide range of regulatory regimes that emerging technologies implicate. She emphasized that lawyers must understand not only the applicable law, but also the underlying technology itself, particularly as AI increasingly intersects with financial services, privacy, sanctions, export controls, securities laws, and the Bank Secrecy Act.

Ultimately, Rettig wrote that AI lawyers, like crypto lawyers, will help design legal guardrails before regulators or courts have provided definitive answers.

You can read the full piece on Rettig’s LinkedIn here. 

SEC Investor Advisory Committee to Host September Meeting

The SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee will meet September 10, 2026 to discuss how artificial intelligence is changing corporate disclosures and whether the SEC should modify its core equity market-structure rules. 

The first panel will examine the growing use of AI tools by companies and investors to draft, file, and analyze corporate disclosures, including concerns around accuracy, source traceability, cybersecurity, and responsibility for AI-generated information. The second panel will cover potential changes to Regulation NMS, including the SEC’s proposal to eliminate the rule generally preventing trades from executing at prices worse than the best publicly displayed price. These issues are particularly relevant as securities trading becomes more automated and moves to onchain infrastructure.

FinCEN Flags Nearly $13 Billion in Digital Asset Activity Tied to Overseas Scam Centers

On September 3, 2026, FinCEN released a new Financial Trend Analysis identifying approximately $12.7 billion in financial activity tied to suspected digital asset investment scams between September 2023 and December 2025. FinCEN said many of these operations are linked to transnational criminal organizations in Southeast Asia and rely on money launderers, shell companies, money mules, and digital asset exchanges to move proceeds. 

FinCEN also issued an alert identifying red flags for financial institutions and encouraged information sharing under Section 314(b), underscoring  the federal government’s focus on disrupting the financial networks supporting large-scale digital asset fraud.

If you are interested in improving cybersecurity resilience across blockchain ecosystems and onchain software, we encourage you to join DEF’s newly launched security coalition:  https://www.defieducationfund.org/opsecpledge/ 

Notable and Quotable

“As technology changes and the competitive marketplace evolves, good government requires revisiting legacy rules and regulations.”

— Jamie Selway, Director of the SEC Division of Trading and Markets, on the transfer agent proposal

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