US and UK regulators deepen coordination on stablecoin regulation after GENIUS Act

Aug 4, 2026

US and UK financial regulators are deepening coordination on stablecoin oversight following the US GENIUS Act. At a July 8 meeting in London, officials discussed one-to-one backing and cross-border access for stablecoins. The Bank of England has softened its rules, replacing holding limits with a £40B issuance cap and reducing central bank deposit requirements from 40% to 30%, as the UK aims to keep pace with US regulatory momentum.

US-UK Financial Regulatory Working Group

▪The 13th UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group meeting was held in London on July 8.
▪Attendees included officials from HM Treasury, US Treasury, Bank of England, FCA, Federal Reserve, SEC, CFTC, FDIC, and OCC.
▪The July 8 meeting did not result in new regulations or binding agreements.

GENIUS Act implementation

▪During the July 8 meeting, US officials updated UK regulators on the implementation of the GENIUS Act.
▪The GENIUS Act establishes a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the United States.

Stablecoin reserve requirements

▪A joint US-UK statement on July 14 called for stablecoins to be fully backed one-to-one with high-quality liquid assets.
▪The Bank of England replaced proposed per-coin holding limits with a temporary £40 billion issuance cap for each systemic stablecoin.
▪The remaining 70% of reserves for UK systemic stablecoins can be held in short-term UK government debt.
▪The Bank of England also reduced the required share of reserves held as non-interest-bearing central bank deposits from 40% to 30%.
▪The joint statement also called for segregated reserves and timely redemption for stablecoins.

Cross-border payment modernization

▪Officials discussed payment modernization and the G20 Cross-border Payments Roadmap during the meeting.
▪The Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, a joint US-UK initiative, also published recommendations on July 14.
▪The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has identified cross-border payments as one of the clearest near-term use cases for stablecoins.

Regulatory competitiveness dynamics

▪Some industry observers believe the UK is losing ground to the US on stablecoin regulation following the passage of the GENIUS Act.
▪In the UK, the FCA will oversee most stablecoins, while the Bank of England will jointly regulate systemically important ones.