Florida Senate Passes Stablecoin Regulation Bill, Establishes Oversight Framework

PANews, March 7: According to The Block, the Florida Senate passed Senate Bill 314 on Thursday by a vote of 37 in favor and 0 opposed, paving the way for a regulatory framework for the issuance of payment stablecoins in the state. The bill, along with its companion House Bill 175, will be submitted to Governor Ron DeSantis for signature within the next 30 days. The bill is based on the federal GENIUS Act, which was signed into law in July last year, and incorporates consumer protection and financial stability guidelines. Key provisions include: · Amending the Florida Money Services Business Anti-Money Laundering Act to bring stablecoins under regulatory oversight, requiring issuers to comply with existing rules and prohibiting unlicensed issuance · Clarifying that certain payment stablecoins are not securities · Requiring out-of-state qualified payment stablecoin issuers to submit written notice to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation · Subjecting certain stablecoins to regulation solely by the state’s OFR, while others are co-regulated with the federal OCC The bill prohibits payment stablecoin issuers from paying any form of interest to holders, provided that “federal law prohibits such payments.” On the same day, the companion bill CS/CS/SB 1440 was also passed, expanding confidentiality protections for information related to virtual currency businesses, qualified payment stablecoin issuers, and other entities to safeguard trade secrets and non-public information.