US lawmakers are ‘deeply concerned’ that SEC is adopting rules too quickly, without adequate feedback – Regulation Bitcoin News

Two US lawmakers have asked for answers from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about their rulemaking process. Their request followed latest SEC Inspector General report that “raises significant concerns that the agency is trying to adopt too many rules, too quickly.”

‘SEC Adopts Rules Without Adequate Feedback’

US Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler requesting information on the agency’s rulemaking process on Wednesday.

The letter refers to several issues identified in the October report published by the SEC Inspector General (IG), an independent office that conducts, monitors and coordinates audits and investigations of the programs and operations of the SEC.

Senator Toomey tweeted on Friday:

I am deeply concerned that the IG report finds that the SEC is adopting rules without adequate feedback.

The letter describes that the IG report “raises significant concerns that the agency is trying to adopt too many rules, too quickly — in some cases using temporary staff with little or no regulatory experience — to the detriment of investors, businesses and U.S. capital markets. . “

The IG report notes that from January to August of this year, the SEC proposed 26 new rules, which was more than double the number of new rules it proposed in all of 2021 and more than it had proposed in each of the previous five years.

After the release of the report, Rep. McHenry tweeted: “A damning new IG report shines a light on Gary Gensler’s reckless leadership of the SEC.” He meant:

Chairman Gensler’s attempt to force a progressive agenda through our capital markets takes resources away from the SEC’s core mission – including investor protection.

The letter continues:

By largely cutting these offices out of the rulemaking process, your office has limited their ability to provide important and meaningful feedback on the impact of draft rules on investors and small businesses.

The lawmakers concluded the letter with a list of questions about how the SEC plans to address the issues identified in the IG report. They asked Gensler to respond by November 16.

Last week, four members of Congress sent a letter to Gensler accusing him of “hypocritical mismanagement of the SEC,” saying the chairman refused to practice what he preaches. Gensler has also been criticized for taking an enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry.

Do you agree with lawmakers that the SEC’s rulemaking process is concerning? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of finance and cryptography.