US State Bank Regulators Agree to Single Set of Rules for Fintech, Crypto Firm Licensing

Bank regulators in 49 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico plan to make compliance for cryptocurrency companies simpler by consolidating supervisory exams.

• The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), a coordinating body for state regulators, confirmed to Reuters the new regime for money service businesses (MSB) will introduce the same rules and standards across 48 states.
• This will streamline compliance, making it easy for state-licensed money transmitters like Coinbase to work across multiple states, instead of going through the time and expense of getting regulated in each and every one.
• One state will lead a group in representing all 49 regulatory bodies in evaluating each different company, and this model will apply to 78 MSBs, including Western Union and PayPal, that together move a reported $1 trillion annually.
• Speaking to Reuters, John Ryan, CSBS’ president and CEO, said the framework will be just as robust, but much more efficient, at enforcing state regulation.
• The CSBS is expected to unveil the new regulatory regime sometime on Tuesday.

See also: The OCC’s Crypto Custody Letter Was Years in the Making

UPDATE (Sept. 15, 2020, 18:05 UTC): This article has been updated for clarity.