Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Patrick McHenry Chairman United States House Committee On Financial Services | Official Website

Lawmakers urge Biden not to veto bipartisan congressional review act on SAB 121

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) led a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to reconsider his threat to veto Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121 Congressional Review Act (CRA), which passed the Senate and House with strong bipartisan support.

“Given the overwhelming bipartisan votes, we urge you to sign H.J. Res. 109 into law or work with the SEC to rescind the staff guidance,” said the lawmakers. “Rescinding SAB 121 is well within the SEC’s authority and there is ample precedent for revisiting a staff accounting bulletin. In fact, most staff accounting bulletins over the last three decades have been revisions and rescissions of prior guidance.”

This CRA resolution aims to protect essential custody services and consumers from increased bankruptcy risk. It garnered strong bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.

Reps. French Hill (R-AR), Andy Barr (R-KY), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Mike Flood (R-NE), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Wiley Nickel (D-NC), and Dan Meuser (R-PA) joined McHenry and Lummis in sending the letter.

On November 15, 2023, Chairman McHenry, Senator Lummis, Representative Mike Flood (R-NE), and Representative Wiley Nickel (D-NC) sent a letter alongside Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representatives French Hill (R-AR) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) to prudential regulators urging them to clarify through guidance or other action that SAB 121 is not enforceable after the Government Accountability Office found that it is a rule for purposes of the Congressional Review Act.

On February 1, 2024, Senator Lummis alongside Representatives Flood and Nickel introduced a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 121.

The House passed the CRA resolution earlier this month by a vote of 228–182, while the Senate passed it by a vote of 60–38. This marks the first time both chambers of Congress have passed standalone crypto legislation.

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