These standards, according to the proposed rule, “must include reasonable procedures to: (1) verify the identity of any person seeking to open an account to the extent reasonable and practicable; (2) maintain records of the information used to verify the identity of a person, including name, address, and other identifying information; and (3) determine whether the person appears on any list of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to the financial institution by any government agency.”
The Federal Reserve opened a 60-day public comment period alongside other agencies in the joint effort, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration and the Treasury Department’s financial crimes arm.
In September, regulators had issued a more draft document seeking comments to guide their GENIUS implementation in this and other areas, and Treasury received 450 comments. This new stage is known as “notice of proposed rulemaking,” which comes with another comment and review period before the agencies can eventually issue final joint rules and begin enforcing the regulations.
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has applied its own related rule to apply the anti-money laundering provisions of the GENIUS Act to issuers.
