U.S. regulators are eyeing things from crypto regulation to Wall Street stock trading rules for 2023.
Key Details
- U.S. regulators are making a list of the top priorities for 2023, and the item topping the list—crypto regulation.
- Other pressing issues include Wall Street trading rules, ESG, and bank merger criteria.
- Most of these issues have been a topic of discussion for a while, but regulators have set out to make them a priority for the upcoming year.
Why it’s news
U.S. financial regulators, led by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, are moving their focus to new things for the upcoming year, including new criteria and regulations for different sectors.
One item topping the list of 2023 priorities—crypto regulation. Many investors and other figures have long been calling for Gensler’s SEC to regulate because cryptocurrencies are volatile, the dollar amounts are significant, and the market is always fluctuating.
The recent fall of crypto exchange FTX has led regulators to add crypto regulation to the top of the list, making it a priority for 2023. With FTX, individual investors had put money into the crypto exchange with the understanding that the funds would not be lent to others but would remain in their name in the exchange. Prosecutors say this did not happen.
Crypto has little market regulation opening the doors to fraud and other issues, and after the big fall of one of crypto’s largest companies, it has caused regulators to realize a change needs to be made.
Many Democrats are saying the industry needs a crackdown, especially after the FTX scandal, while many Republicans argue that the crypto sector as a whole shouldn’t be punished for FTX’s mistakes.
In addition to the crypto ordeal, many lawmakers are expected to push hard against proposals from the SEC to require greenhouse-gas emissions disclosures for publicly traded companies and ESG disclosures by investment firms, according to Bloomberg writers Allyson Versprille and Lydia Beyond. ESG represents environmental, social, and governmental issues that are included in policies and strategies of investing.
The SEC is also expected to make new rules and regulations for Wall Street stock trading.
Regulators are cracking down on rules and regulations for many sectors, and 2023 is expected to be a busy year full of many changes.
