Regulation
Brown ‘Open’ to Reforming Cryptocurrency Market Structure
News: Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in an interview Wednesday that he is “open to working with” the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on an ambitious cryptocurrency regulatory reform.
There is still a lot of time way to proceed here. But Brown has spent the past few weeks trying to say how as little as possible about cryptocurrencies. This is a subtle, but important, change.
“They are not “by default saying no,” Brown added. “I will not let an industry-written bill pass through my committee. But I will not automatically say no if consumers and investors are protected.”
Ohio Democrat he warned that he was waiting to “see the language” produced by the panel, of which he is a member.
Brown’s interest is crucial to this long-term reform effort. The market structure bill passed by the House in May makes significant changes under the authority of both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Future Trading Commission.
Stabenow has has made it clear that her bill’s text will focus on cryptocurrencies. “We’re not defining securities, because that’s not in our jurisdiction,” the Michigan Democrat told us Wednesday. The Agriculture Committee chairwoman said at a hearing earlier in the day that she hoped to distribute “specific language” to senators by the end of the week.
Brown warned He won’t consider any cryptocurrency bill that’s too friendly to the industry for months. That puts him at odds with the senator. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the top Republican on the Agriculture Committee.
Boozman said he was looking for “broad support within the community that we want to regulate” and didn’t believe lawmakers had gotten it yet.
Meanwhile, in IRS news: The IRS crackdown on wealthy tax evaders is in full swing: This morning, the agency announced that it has collected $1 billion in taxes owed by wealthy individuals.
The loot comes from a campaign focused on taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt. The IRS launched the initiative with new money from the Inflation Reduction Act. Of course, that $60 billion in extra IRA funding will be a prime target if Republicans win big in November’s elections.
Meanwhile, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel and Secretary of the Treasury My Janet Yellen continue to sing the praises of how the funding is helping to crack down on tax evasion. Werfel has he made it his mission to demonstrate that the additional IRS funding needs to remain in place.
“This is yet another one “An example of how the Inflation Reduction Act is making a difference,” Werfel said in a call with reporters.
Meeting on international taxation: Members of the House GOP “fiscal team” focused on global competitiveness, met with business leaders on Wednesday to discuss international tax provisions stemming from Trump’s 2017 tax cut law, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
The law has changed how multinationals pay taxes on foreign profits. The discussion included feedback on what lawmakers could improve when much of the law expires next year. And the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax emerged as one element that business leaders believe might not work as planned.
– Brendan Pedersen and Laura Weiss