The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs voted to report two bills out of committee, advancing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act to establish a federal framework for payment stablecoins and the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act to curb the use of reputational risk in bank safety and soundness assessments. Under the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers would be required to maintain one-to-one reserve backing and comply with anti-money laundering laws. The FIRM Act would eliminate references to reputational risk as a measure for determining the safety and soundness of regulated financial institutions, with the stated objective of preventing regulators from using reputational risk rationales to support debanking of legal businesses and individuals. Both bills now move to consideration by the full U.S. Senate, with committee leadership also pointing to additional legislative proposals on debanking as potential follow-on measures.
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs 2025-03-13
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs advances GENIUS stablecoin framework and FIRM debanking bill to the Senate floor
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs advanced the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act and the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act. The GENIUS Act mandates one-to-one reserve backing for stablecoins and adherence to anti-money laundering laws, while the FIRM Act seeks to remove reputational risk from bank safety assessments. Both bills proceed to the full Senate, with further debanking legislation expected.