GOP midtvejssejr ville tilføje pres på fintech-regulatorer

Hvis republikanerne vinder kontrol over Kongressen i midtvejsperioden i november, forventer folk, der nøje følger finansteknologi, pres på regulatorer for at skubbe kryptovenlige regler over målstregen.

Lovgivere fra begge parter er gået sammen om lovgivning, der ville regulere industrien efter et kaotisk år med en stablecoin-fejl og konkurser i krypto-udlånsvirksomheder. Bitcoin, en af ​​de mest populære kryptovalutaer, har mistet over 60 procent af sin værdi siden november 2021.

Republikanerne har dog været særligt ivrige efter at ønske mere klart definerede færdselsregler fra regulatorer. Sen. Patrick J. Toomey, R-Pennsylvania, har f.eks. revset regulatorer for ikke at give mere klarhed.

Og republikanerne er også imod, at regeringen opfylder en rolle, de ser som domænet for den private sektor, et eksempel er en centralbanks digital valuta udstedt af Federal Reserve.

Lee Reiners, policy director ved Duke Financial Economics Center i North Carolina, sagde, at republikanerne er gået sammen om en opfattelse af, at Fed ikke behøver at skabe sin egen digitale valuta, fordi den ville konkurrere med stablecoins, der allerede er på markedet.

"Ville det chokere mig, hvis de fremlagde et lovforslag, der ville forbyde Federal Reserve at udstede en centralbanks digital valuta eller digital dollar?" Reiners sagde i et interview. "Jeg ville ikke blive chokeret."

Republikanerne foretrækker at vinde Huset, men kampen om Senatet er mindre sikker. Inside Elections med Nathan L. Gonzales rapporterer, at GOP's marginer er faldet, efterhånden som valget nærmer sig.

Selv i en delt kongres mener nogle dog, at handling på krypto er sandsynlig.

"Jeg tror, ​​uanset hvad der sker med valget i november, at Kongressen vil fortsætte med at have en appetit på at handle på lovgivning relateret til kryptovalutaer og stablecoins," sagde Kristin Smith, administrerende direktør i Blockchain Association, i et interview. Stablecoins er digitale tokens, hvis værdi er knyttet til et aktiv såsom dollaren.

Der har cirkuleret todelte regninger. Et lovforslag, fremsat i august af Senatets landbrugsformand Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, og medsponsoreret af det rangerende medlem John Boozman, R-Arkansas, ville give Commodity Futures Trading Commission bemyndigelse til at regulere nogle af de største digitale råvarer, bl.a. bitcoin.

En lignende, introduceret i juli af sponsor Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, og co-sponsoreret af Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, ville sætte CFTC som top kryptoregulator, men inkluderer en bred vifte af andre kryptovalutaer bestemmelser og har også skattemæssige konsekvenser.

Der forventes endnu mere lovgivning fra Maxine Waters, D-California, formand for House Financial Services Committee, og Patrick T. McHenry fra North Carolina, det rangerende medlem og sandsynligvis formand for panelet, hvis republikanerne indtager Parlamentet.

"He is very passionate about these issues," Smith said of McHenry. "So I think he may be more of a driving force than if the Democrats (keep) control." McHenry would work to get something done quickly, Smith added.

A central bank digital currency, a digital form of money that would be issued and backed by the Fed, however, is an issue that could be more partisan, Smith said.

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, chair of the Blockchain Caucus, introduced a bill in January that would ban the central bank from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals.

Banks or fintech?

Agencies are also moving forward on potential new rules.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering rules for customer data sharing, Reiners noted. A proposal that would give bank customers control over their data would affect the relationship between traditional financial accounts and third-party apps such as Venmo.

Banks mostly are not keen on being required to share their customers' data, in part because it is extremely valuable, Reiners said. That could mean a choice for Republicans on whom they support most—banks or the fintech industry, he said.

"Historically Republicans have been broadly supportive of the banking industry, so this would kind of pit two of their constituencies against one another," he said.

Republicans could also smooth the path for what some call "rent-a-charter" arrangements, in which fintech companies partner with banks to make loans. If a nonbank fintech lending platform is underwriting loans, it is subject to state-by-state lender licensing requirements and also state-by-state interest rate and fee restrictions, according to a post by Reiners and Joseph Caputo for the Duke Financial Economics Center.

Many fintech lenders are already partnering with banks to avoid state restrictions by structuring their arrangements with banks so that the fintech credit platform markets to potential borrowers and the bank underwrites the loan, they said.

Democrats view it as a new form of payday lending, while Republicans view it as competition that benefits consumers by giving them more choice, Reiners said.

Late in former President Donald Trump's administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued the "true lender" rule determining that a bank, and not the fintech company, is making the loan, therefore allowing such arrangements. Many on the left worried the rule would allow predatory interest rates for low-income consumers, Reiners said.

Congress used the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule in June 2021.

At the time, President Joe Biden said "loan sharks and online lenders" had figured out how to get around interest rate caps. "These are so called 'rent-a-bank' schemes," Biden said. "And they allow lenders to prey on veterans, seniors, and other unsuspecting borrowers … trapping them into a cycle of debt."

Republicans want to see that true-lender rule come back.

"That would be a pressure applied directly to the OCC and the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]," Reiners said.

A Republican Congress also would mean increased oversight on regulators led by Biden appointees, said Aaron Klein, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"Regulators have significant, independent authority, and determined regulators can usually move forward even in the face of congressional opposition," Klein said.

Klein said he expected the election impact on fintech regulation to be minimal.

"Perhaps the biggest change would be if Republicans took the Senate and slowed the nomination process for new appointees," Klein said.

Nicole Valentine, fintech director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute, said she anticipates some momentum in legislation and hearings in the next term.

"The United States is a market leader, and it would be great to see their continuation of leadership in this era of fintech and crypto," Valentine said. + Udforsk yderligere

Fintech experts divided on form for US central digital currency

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