Fed Proposes Stablecoin Subsidiary Application Path for Insured State Member Banks

The Federal Reserve has proposed an application process for an insured State member bank that wants to issue payment stablecoins through a subsidiary. Under Docket R-1900, that bank would seek the Board’s prior approval and submit a business plan and financial information. The route is a proposal, not an approval for any bank or a final rule.

The distinction matters because the Fed announced two related stablecoin proposals on September 24, 2026. Its separate issuer-standards proposal addresses operating requirements, including reserves and capital; our report on those proposed standards covers that question. R-1900 instead addresses which bank can approach the Fed through this procedure and how the Board would review its application.

Who could use the proposed route?

R-1900 is tailored to insured State member banks seeking approval for a subsidiary to issue payment stablecoins. It does not create a general application procedure for every bank or every potential stablecoin issuer. The proposal says uninsured State member banks fall outside this particular procedure.

An eligible bank would have to present its proposed business and financial information for review. The Fed’s announcement describes those submissions as part of a tailored application process. The proposal gives the fuller procedural detail. Filing an application would begin a review; it would not itself establish that a subsidiary may issue a stablecoin.

How would the review clock work?

The proposal describes a 30-day notice step and a 120-day statutory decision framework. Those periods should not be read as an unconditional promise of approval 120 days after any initial filing. The decision period depends on the application being substantially complete, and the proposal’s deemed-approval provision applies only when its stated statutory condition is met.

R-1900 also sets out proposed hearing and appeal procedures. Together, these provisions would give an eligible bank a defined way to seek a Board decision, while leaving the outcome of any particular application to the review. The Fed’s proposal record still labels R-1900 as a proposal.

What remains open?

No bank application, Board approval or issuer launch is established by the proposal and records reviewed for this article. The Fed says comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register; the reviewed proposal page does not provide a verified calendar deadline. The comment portal lists two entries posted September 25, but their linked documents were unavailable in the reviewed record, so their positions cannot be characterized.

The next concrete checkpoints are Federal Register publication and the resulting comment deadline, accessible substantive comments, any revised or final Fed rule, and any actual application or Board action. Until then, R-1900 describes a proposed path for a specific class of banks, not a finding that a bank has cleared it.