Tag: nomination

Trump Nominates SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce For Second Term

Crypto Mom, Hester Peirce has been nominated for a second term with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as one of its five commissioners.

Peirce has proved to be somewhat of an ally of Bitcoin and blockchain projects that come before the US SEC regulatory body. She took office in January 2018 and received a nomination to finish the last two years of her term from US President Donald Trump. Peirce was originally nominated by former President Obama in 2015 to fill a Republican seat, without Trump’s second nomination her term would have ended on June 5.

According to Bloomberg Law, Peirce has now been nominated for a  new term that could see her remain as a SEC Commissioner until 2025. 

A Harbour in Regulatory Tempest

Despite well-documented uncertainty between separate regulatory bodies on how to classify digital assets, within the US blockchain and crypto space, the SEC has maintained that digital assets likely fall under US securities laws. The SEC has punctuated this stance through enforcement against high profile projects like Telegram and EOS provider, Block.One who was fined 24 million dollars for its ICO offering.

SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce has been a breath of fresh air to the sector and has earned the moniker of “Crypto-Mom” for her bold attitude towards digital innovation.

As reported by Blockchain.News, Peirce recently doubled down on her previous suggestion to provide decentralized network developers a safe harbor and even submitted a formal draft proposal.

The safe harbor proposal recommended that a three-year reprieve from securities law should be granted to developers and projects that can demonstrate they are raising funds and making progress towards an open-source network.

Crypto Mom: A Leader Not a Follower

Peirce earned the nickname of ‘Crypto Mom’ when she spoke out and highlighted parameters that were set and heavily scrutinized in the SEC’s processing and ultimate rejection of Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF application. Peirce argued that the standards that Bitcoin ETF’s are subjected to have never been applied to traditional markets offering.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce wrote that “the Commission applies a unique, heightened standard under Exchange Act Section 6(b) to rule filings related to digital assets” in a dissenting statement in response to the Bitcoin ETF rejection.Peirce wrote, “This line of disapprovals leads me to conclude that this Commission is unwilling to approve the listing of any product that would provide access to the market for bitcoin and that no filing will meet the ever-shifting standards that this Commission insists on applying to bitcoin-related products—and only to bitcoin-related products.”

Peirce is yet to make any official comment on her recent nomination.

Biden To Name Crypto Critic Saule Omarova To Lead OCC

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce his nomination for the Comptroller of The Currency within the next few days. He will pick a female candidate, according to Bloomberg media outlets, citing three people familiar with the nomination process.

The U.S. President is planning to nominate Saule Omarova, Cornell University law school professor, to head the Office of The Comptroller of The Currency (OCC). The nomination event is reported could happen as soon as this week.  

Omarova, a Kazakh-American lawyer, has been teaching at Cornell University law school since 2014, specializing in banking law and corporate finance. In 2006-2007, she served as special adviser for regulatory policy to the U.S. Department of The Treasury under former President George W. Bush.

As a native of Kazakhstan, Omarova would be the first woman and person of colour officially named to run the Office of the OCC that oversees the U.S. banking sector.

Omarova is an outspoken critic of cryptocurrency and traditional banking and has called for the government to play a more active and bigger role in the nation’s financial services sector. As in charge of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, she would be expected to supervise the country’s biggest banks and implement regulations concerning cryptocurrency firms and Fintech startups.

In the past, Omarova has criticized the cryptocurrency and traditional banking sector, and she is known for wanting to “end banking as we know it”

Omarova described the cryptocurrency sector as threatening the stability of the economy and believes that crypto-assets only benefit the “dysfunctional financial system we already have.” She further acknowledges that the financial sector is prone to abuse from large private financial institutions.

Omarova is therefore expected to pursue stricter rules and stricter oversight for cryptocurrency and the financial industry.

Next move for the OCC?

After Brian Brooks’ departure, the Office of The Comptroller of The Currency (OCC) signals a less crypto-friendly institution.

Brooks stepped down as the head of the OCC in January 2021as the Biden administration prepared to take the reins.

As a result, the appointment of Michael Hsu as the current acting comptroller of currency came with changes, a shift away from the aggressive innovation pushed by fintech-friendly Brian Brooks.

Mr. Brooks strongly promoted the OCC’s proposed special-purpose fintech charter. He allowed banks and thrifts to offer custody services to cryptocurrency companies, among other moves to modernize and innovate the OCC in response to rapid changes in financial services.

But all that changed with the appointment of Hus, who signalled a potential reversal of the innovations Brooks sought to achieve.

In May, Hsu called for a review of the cryptocurrency guidance issued by the OCC under Brian Brooks.   

Hsu ordered a review of several of the agency’s recent actions, including moves that gave it authority to provide crypto custody companies with banking licenses. OCC hinted that it could become less friendly to cryptocurrency.

With the current new appointments underway, more significant changes are likely to come to the OCC, creating new challenges for fintech, crypto regulations, and DeFi (decentralized finance).

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