US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler called for appropriate regulation of crypto-assets trading and lending platforms on Wednesday 1 September in an exchange with the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
While this two trillion-plus US dollar crypto-assets market, which knows no boundaries or timeline, is a real technological innovation in terms of monetary financing, “we need to make sure that this innovation does not flourish outside the public regulatory realm”, Mr Gensler said.
Responding to questions from Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland) and Aurore Lalucq (S&D, France), the head of the US securities regulator called for regulatory oversight of these “highly speculative” financial products to protect investors and combat the financing of illicit activities.
Sustainable Finance. Mr Gensler also welcomed the work in Europe leading to greater transparency in financial transactions, including sustainable finance. We have entered an era where investors want to know about climate and/or human capital-related and cyber security risks, he said. According to him, it is therefore “appropriate to shed light on what lies behind the assumption that an asset is sustainable”.
He promised to take into account what Europe is doing, notably in the context of financial taxonomy (see EUROPE 12764/12, 12761/3), but without promising mutual recognition in this area.
Responding to Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) who asked for advice on how to make EU financial markets more competitive, the SEC Chairman called for financial markets that can avoid fragmentation in order placement, deal with conflicts of interest, and ensure a level playing field between trading platforms. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)