SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda recently spoke at an event sponsored by Schwab. Commissioner Uyeda spoke during a session to address the “regulatory onslaught” that has taken place during Chairman Gary Gensler’s tenure at the agency.
In notes provided to CI, Uyeda commented on the impact of the aggressive rule making taking place at the SEC. He stated:
“I look at regulation like a really long cargo ship that’s probably best not to make rapid moves. You can’t be a speedboat, just zigzagging in and out. I don’t think that’s healthy for the industry. I don’t think it’s healthy for investors. I think it makes it really difficult for people to try to comply with our rules – today it’s X, tomorrow it’s Y.”
The SEC has been pilloried during the Biden Administration due to its zealotry in regard to regulation some of which clearly goes beyond its legal mandate, such as ESG rules. Criticism frequently claims that overlapping rules have taxed the resources of the SEC while confounding firms that will have to deal with any changes. Meanwhile, the capital formation mission has been largely ignored.
Uyeda said that during the Biden administration, “we’ve just had this deluge of proposals out there, which don’t seem to really connect with each other,” adding, “I’ve not observed that high level of coordination that there was under the prior administration and President Trump.”
It was reported that Trump declared at the recent Bitcoin event in Nashville that he would fire Chairman Gensler on day one. This is said to have elicited a “standing ovation” at the event when it was mentioned.
Asked specifically about digital asset regulation, Uyeda said the SEC is far behind the curve on crypto.
“One of the things that we need to do is to address [this issue] on all fronts. Because you can’t say, `Oh fine, I’ll let this token be registered.’ If it is a security…how do you bring them in to register? It does you no good, or very little good, if you can register, but then no broker-dealer can handle the security…And because it is a security, you can’t have non-brokers handling those transactions either. So it really is the building up of a whole ecosystem. The good news is whoever is chairman, should there be a change, has the ability to do that through making accommodations on how you register with us. We can provide exemptive relief. We can provide no-action relief…There’s no reason why we can’t effectively address crypto.”
The Commission is made up of 5 individuals, with the Administration (Democrats) holding the majority. If Trump wins the election this November, Uyeda would be a possible selection to emerge as the new Chairman of the SEC and thus more friendly to Fintech innovation, access to capital and smaller investors.
