Wise to Resubmit U.S. Charter Application Under GENIUS Act After OCC Denial
Following the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's rejection of its national trust bank charter application, UK payments platform Wise is expected to pivot toward a GENIUS Act regulatory pathway designed for payment stablecoin providers.
The UK-based payments platform Wise is charting a new course in its pursuit of U.S. regulatory approval. After the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency denied its application for a national trust bank charter this week, Wise is expected to resubmit under the GENIUS Act framework—legislation enacted in July 2025 that establishes a regulatory pathway specifically designed for payment stablecoin providers operating in the United States.
According to the OCC, Wise had failed to demonstrate the existence of effective Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism compliance programs. The agency also raised concerns about “other illicit finance activity risks” associated with the company, issues that would need to be addressed in any future application.
Regulatory Flexibility Through GENIUS Framework
The shift to a GENIUS Act application strategy represents a meaningful adjustment in Wise’s regulatory approach, though not necessarily a fundamental change in the company’s business orientation. According to research published by William Blair, an investment banking and financial advisory firm, Wise is unlikely to materially alter its position regarding payment stablecoins despite the denial. The payments company remains focused on its core objective: reducing the expense and complexity of cross-border financial transactions, a mission the company pursues independent of specific regulatory frameworks or infrastructure technologies.
The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, created a dedicated regulatory structure tailored to the needs of payment stablecoin issuers. Congress designed the framework to provide clearer regulatory expectations and more streamlined approval pathways for digital asset companies focused on payments innovation. Implementation of the law has encountered hurdles, however. Federal agencies charged with developing detailed regulations necessary to operationalize the framework missed a crucial deadline last week. Finalized guidance must be completed before the law’s effective date in January 2027, leaving a compressed timeline for regulatory development.
A More Permissive Regulatory Environment for Digital Assets
Wise’s strategic pivot occurs within a demonstrably changing regulatory landscape. Since the GENIUS Act was signed into law, the OCC has granted national trust bank charters to several prominent digital asset and cryptocurrency-related companies, including Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com, and Coinbase. This series of approvals indicates that while individual applications receive thorough regulatory scrutiny—as Wise’s rejection illustrates—the OCC has established a track record of approving compliant digital asset firms seeking banking charters.
Wise did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for immediate comment on its regulatory strategy or anticipated GENIUS Act application. The company’s decision to pursue an alternative regulatory pathway suggests confidence that addressing the specific AML/CFT concerns identified by the OCC may be more feasible within a stablecoin-focused regulatory framework than through traditional banking charter mechanisms.
The development signals to the crypto industry that regulatory pathways remain available for established payments companies seeking approval to operate in the U.S. market, particularly as purpose-built frameworks like GENIUS mature and provide greater operational clarity—a positive indicator that traditional finance and digital asset regulation may be converging toward workable solutions for compliant operators.
Source: OCC, via Cointelegraph. Not financial advice.