(Editor’s Note: The following article was unsolicited from Emmer’s office).

During the COVID-19 outbreak, our financial institutions have been put to the test to help deliver paychecks and access to capital to millions of Americans as they seek to maintain a healthy financial future. Financial technology innovation has served as a beacon of hope, providing the unbanked and underbanked with financial services and products, and re-envisioning a banking system that supports small businesses, capital formation, and job growth.

As a leader on the House Financial Services Committee, I pledge to continue to fight for a better America – one in which its people have the ability to control and grow their finances, no matter their income level or access.

Main Street

Growth Act

This Congress, I plan to reintroduce the Main Street Growth Act, a piece of legislation that previously passed out of the House with unanimous support. The Main Street Growth Act will facilitate the creation of venture exchanges, creating jobs, improving capital formation, and encouraging more early-stage Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).

This bill will allow the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide for the creation of venture exchanges. These specialized securities exchanges will help small and emerging growth companies gain access to the capital they need to grow and succeed.

Crypto and

Blockchain

With an emerging technology like blockchain, one of the United States’ greatest challenges in competitive blockchain development has been the lack of understanding of the technology amongst lawmakers and regulators. As a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Blockchain Caucus, I work with members on both sides of the aisle to promote an understanding of blockchain technology and proper regulation of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

I sent a letter to Secretary Mnuchin urging the Treasury and FinCEN to allow more time for industry to provide comments and feedback on the proposed rules of recordkeeping and reporting. This letter proved effective, as the comment period was extended, giving industry sufficient time to report to FinCEN how the proposed rule is a breach of privacy, overreaching, and stymies innovation.

The same month, I sent a letter to the SEC urging them to level the playing field and provide guidance for how broker-dealers may provide custody services of digital assets to their customers and to direct FINRA to approve applications that meet those requirements. This letter was received kindly by the SEC and FINRA, and soon resulted in the SEC laying out some rules for how broker-dealers are to properly provide custody services of digital assets – a big step forward.

117th Congress

Recently, I introduced priority financial services legislation for the 117th Congress aimed at promoting additional transparency and oversight of financial regulators.

I introduced the CFPB Dual Mandate and Economic Analysis Act which requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to focus on competition and consumer choice. The legislation would also establish an Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) at the CFPB to review and assess proposed guidance, orders, rules and regulations to analyze how the actions would affect consumer choice, price, and access to financial products. This enhancement ensures that consumers will have access to a diverse array of financial services providers and products that are more responsive to the individual needs of all Americans.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act would enhance congressional oversight of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which was also created under the Dodd-Frank Act. FSOC has the power to designate financial institutions as “systemically important” which results in greater regulatory burdens. The legislation would give Congress the power to approve the budget for FSOC and the Office of Financial Research (OFR), create quarterly reporting requirements for OFR, and require OFR to provide at least a 90-day public notice and comment period before issuing any report, rule, or regulation. This increased oversight and transparency would ensure safe and competitive financial markets to help Americans purchase homes, cars, and have access to higher education.

In addition, I introduced the Mutual Fund Litigation Reform Act, which would prevent attorneys from filing baseless litigation designed to abuse the legal system for financial gain. Mutual funds are investment strategies that allow the pooling of money together with other investors to purchase a collection of stocks, bonds, or other securities. These funds are heavily regulated and are often subject to excessive and unfounded lawsuits known as Section 36(b) suits. This legal recourse is often abused to the tune of millions of dollars – costs which are borne by Americans who rely on mutual funds to diversify their financial portfolio. The legislation improves litigation requirements against firms that are already strongly regulated to protect consumers in order to reduce the excessive number of lawsuits that are brought without merit.

As always, your input is vital to me in carrying out my duties. If you have any questions or if I may be of assistance on this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff at the Otsego district office or the Washington, D.C. office.