EBA Takes Direct Supervision of USDC from 12 November
On 14 October the European Banking Authority classified Circle's USDC as the first significant e-money token under MiCA. From 12 November 2026 (27 days) the EBA, not just France's ACPR, supervises its reserves, own funds and liquidity. Also today: US debanking probes, EU rules for foreign bank branches, and the FSB's AI practices.
Why It Matters
The EBA classified USDC, issued in the EU by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as a significant e-money token (EMT) — the first of the 45 EMTs notified under MiCA to reach that status. From 12 November, USDC moves to MiCA's dual-supervision model: the EBA takes direct responsibility for own funds, the reserve of assets, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans, while the ACPR keeps governance, qualifying holdings, fit-and-proper, outsourcing and conflicts-of-interest oversight. The EBA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services on cross-border stablecoin activities.
For issuers, distributors and custodians, supervision of reserve quality and redemption planning now sits with a European authority. Expect heavier prudential and reporting expectations.
Also today:
US banks face debanking scrutiny. On 14 October the OCC released "Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans," finding that the nine largest national banks maintained policies that may have limited services based on customers' beliefs or lawful business activities. No penalties were announced. The CFPB opened a parallel initiative under ECOA, FCRA and UDAAP, citing Executive Order 14331.
EU finalises booking rules for foreign bank branches. Commission Delegated Regulation C(2026) 6463 sets booking-arrangement standards for third-country branches under CRD (Article 48h). It follows the EBA's draft RTS (EBA/RTS/2026/01) and applies from 11 January 2027, subject to Official Journal publication.
FSB finalises AI sound practices. On 15 October the FSB published 12 practices for responsible AI adoption in finance. They are a voluntary toolkit, not binding rules.
Deadline: the CFTC compute-derivatives request for comment (Release 9286-26) closes 20 October (4 days).
Action Items
Map USDC exposure — identify issuance, distribution, custody or settlement in USDC in the EU and confirm readiness for EBA supervision from 12 November.
Review offboarding policies — check that reputation-risk and account-closure standards are clear and documented, and adverse-action notices meet FCRA.
Third-country branches — map each EU branch's booking model and intra-group hedging against the new RTS ahead of 11 January 2027.
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