Wise expected to resubmit US charter application under GENIUS

The OCC denied the UK company’s application this week citing AML/CFT risks, despite approving similar charters for digital asset companies in the last year. Payments company Wise is expected to change its strategy for applying for a charter license with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to one “under a GENIUS Act framework,” the legislation to regulate stablecoins in the country. According to a Friday research note by investment banking group William Blair, Wise will likely not shift its position on payment stablecoins with the new OCC application, despite being denied a charter to establish a national trust bank on Tuesday.

The OCC said in its rejection that the company could not show it had an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) compliance program and had “other illicit finance activity risks.” “Wise is focused on lowering the cost of cross-border transactions, agnostic of the rail,” said William Blair on the move to apply under GENIUS. The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, offers a framework for payment stablecoin providers in the United States, pending finalized regulations to be approved by federal agencies.

However, regulators missed a crucial deadline last week to provide guidance on implementation of the law before its effective date in January 2027. Following the passage of the stablecoin bill, the OCC has approved several applications from digital asset companies for national trust charters, including Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com and Coinbase.

Cointelegraph reached out to Wise for comment but did not receive an immediate response.