Under the bill, companies could apply for an “enforceable compliance agreement” with offices at federal financial agencies that would allow for a regulatory path forward.
North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry, the current ranking member of the House financial Services Committee and chair beginning in January, has reintroduced legislation aimed at making innovation offices among government agencies dealing with financial services.
In a Dec. 19 announcement, McHenry said he had reintroduced the financial Services Innovation Act, a bill he previously pushed in 2016 and 2019. The legislation was aimed at making offices among existing federal institutions establishments that would help innovators — together with those dealing with crypto and blockchain — with a path toward regulatory clarity within the us.
According to McHenry, firms might apply for an “enforceable compliance agreement” with the offices at agencies just like the Securities and Exchange Commission and commodity Futures trading Commission that may allow for a legal path forward while not “out-of-date or unduly burdensome” regulations. He recommended the legislation had been modelled on North Carolina’s regulatory sandbox program.
“It’s critical for our regulatory process to figure with financial innovation, rather than against it,” said McHenry. “My legislation will facilitate financial institutions and entrepreneurs get innovative products and services to market sooner, whereas maintaining critical client protection safeguards [...] Committee Republicans can continue to work toward an up-to-date regulatory framework firms fintech companies clear rules of the road for fulfillment .”
Other federal agencies as well as the office of the comptroller of the Currency have already announced they planned to determine innovation offices with a focus on fintech. The SEC launched a Strategic Hub for Innovation and financial Technology, or FinHub, in 2018, with the center becoming an independent office in 2020. The CFTC’s fintech research unit LabCFTC made a similar move in 2019.
Related: New House financial Services Committee chair wants to delay crypto tax changes
California Representative Maxine Waters currently chairs the House financial Services Committee, however McHenry can take over in January following Republican lawmakers winning majority control, 222 to 213, within the House of Representatives. below Waters and McHenry, the House committee has made several bipartisan efforts to address the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and potential actions against former ceo sam Bankman-Fried.
(TURNER WRIGHT, Cointelegraph, 2022)