SIFMA Statement on Biden Administration’s Digital Assets Reports

Washington, DC, September 16, 2022 – SIFMA today issued the following statement from SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. regarding the reports released by the Biden Administration under Executive Order 14067—Ensuring the Responsible Development of Digital Assets:

“SIFMA is supportive of the Biden Administration’s attention to and recognition of the need to address the rapidly developing digital asset ecosystem, and its focus on creating more regulatory certainty for all market participants. Any new regulatory framework must allow for ongoing innovation, while also providing investors with protections similar to those that already exist in the securities markets. In addition, any framework should ensure a level playing field for all market participants, following the principle of ‘same risk, same activity, same treatment.’ We welcome the reports’ calls for continued policy engagement and dialogue and encouragement of interagency coordination and communication. We look forward to continuing our engagement with Congress, the administration and regulators on these important issues moving forward.”

SIFMA previously:

• provided comments to the Department of Treasury on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.
• submitted a letter responding to the recent discussion paper published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System entitled ‘The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation.’
• provided comments to The Department of Commerce on Developing a Framework on Competitiveness of Digital Asset Technologies.

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SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business policy affecting retail and institutional investors, equity and fixed income markets and related products and services. We serve as an industry coordinating body to promote fair and orderly markets, informed regulatory compliance, and efficient market operations and resiliency. We also provide a forum for industry policy and professional development. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.