Regulation Station
- Last week the US House Financial Services Committee held an SEC oversight hearing with Chairman Gensler. Notable items during the Committee meeting included:
- A bipartisan group of Representatives penned a letter urging Chairman Gensler to approve a Bitcoin Spot ETF immediately.
- Chairman Patrick McHenry kicked off the session with stern words to Gensler, “your efforts to choke out the digital asset ecosystem, which has created real harm for consumers and our markets, is clear to all. Chair Gensler, you have also said your goal is consumer protection, yet your actions have pushed legitimate digital asset firms outside regulated financial institutions where consumers are best protected".
- Representative Andy Barr comically called Gensler the "Tonya Harding of securities regulation because you're kneecapping the U.S. capital markets".
- House Whip Tom Emmer continued the barrage on Gensler, stating, "I'm convinced you're not an impartial regulator. Instead, it's clear that you working to consolidate your own power even though it means crushing opportunities for everyday Americans".
- Democratic Representative Richie Torres called Gensler out for his overreach, referencing his lack of case law used to support his stance on cryptocurrency regulation.
- Representative Mike Flood took highlighted the impracticality of SEC actioned Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121, a policy that prevents even the most legitimate institutions such as BNY Mellon from offering digital asset custody.
- U.S. Congressman Mike Flood (R-NE), Congressmen Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Congressman French Hill (R-AR), and Congressman Wiley Nickel (D-NC) introduced a bipartisan bill, the Uniform Treatment of Custodial Assets Act. The bill would, in effect, rescind a rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121), that prevents banks from providing custodial services to digital assets investors by requiring them to keep those assets on the balance sheet.
- Christina Choi, an official of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, said the regulator is working on detailed guidance on the tokenization of authorised investment products, such as equities “in the near term”.
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