Ensuring that stablecoin arrangements are subject to a federal framework on a “consistent and comprehensive basis” is an “urgent need,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen told a group of regulators Thursday.
During a meeting of the principals of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets — in addition to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — to discuss stablecoin risks and how legislation could contribute to the existing regulatory framework, Yellen called for “serious legislative efforts” to address regulation of stablecoins.
Yellen’s comments were summarized in a readout of the meeting, issued Thursday.
“Secretary Yellen highlighted the need to continue to constructively engage in serious legislative efforts to promptly put in place a regulatory framework for stablecoins that would address current and future risks, such as those related to runs, safety and soundness, consumer protection, the payment system and the concentration of economic power, while complementing existing authorities with respect to market integrity, investor protection, and illicit finance,” the readout states.
The participants discussed developments since the release of the Report on Stablecoins by the working group with the FDIC and the CFPB, according to the readout. Yellen commended the steps that individual agencies have taken within the scope of their mandates and authorities, the readout stated. Yellen also emphasized how recent events have “underscored the urgent need to ensure that stablecoin arrangements are subject to a federal framework on a consistent and comprehensive basis,” the readout states.
The readout states that Yellen highlighted the need to continue to constructively engage in serious legislative efforts to promptly put in place a regulatory framework for stablecoins that would address current and future risks, such as those related to runs, safety and soundness, consumer protection, the payment system and the concentration of economic power, while complementing existing authorities with respect to market integrity, investor protection, and illicit finance.