The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (FSC), Patrick McHenry, announced a markup of a few legislations, three aimed at providing regulatory clarity for the digital asset ecosystem — cryptocurrencies, blockchain development and stablecoin payments.
The Committee on Financial Services will meet on July 26 to markup H.R. 4763, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, H.R. 4766, the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023 and H.R. 1747, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act among others.
Out of the lot, the markup on clarity for stablecoin payments was introduced by McHenry, which aims to bring regulatory clarity for the issuance stablecoins that are designed to be used as a means of payment.
A snippet of FCA’s agenda on crypto regulatory clarity for July 26. Source: house.gov
As stated in the memorandum issued on July 21, H.R. 4763 establishes a digital asset market structure framework appropriate for the unique characteristics of digital assets. H.R. 1747 prevents the need for blockchain developers to acquire licenses as long as they don’t deal in cryptocurrencies.
#NEW: Chairman @PatrickMcHenry announces a markup of legislation to provide clarity for the digital asset ecosystem and address national security concerns.
— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) July 22, 2023
The date for the markup were announced a day after the introduction of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. U.S. Representative French Hill, who serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, said that establishing a functional regulatory framework protects investors from financial fraud.
“This legislation would not only have prevented FTX from stealing billions of customer funds, but also establishes robust consumer protections and clear rules of the road for market participants,” he added.
Two DoJ teams — the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) — will merge to create a larger structure with new additional resources.
The number of criminal division attorneys available to work on criminal cryptocurrency matters will “more than double,” as any CCIPS attorney could potentially be assigned to work an NCET case.
A hostile environment era deportation policy for criminals is being expanded by the Labour government as it continues its migration crackdown.
The government wants to go further in extraditing foreign offenders before they have a chance to appeal by including more countries in the existing scheme.
Offenders that have a human right appeal rejected will get offshored, and further appeals will then get heard from abroad.
It follows the government announcing on Saturday that it wants to deport criminals as soon as they are sentenced.
The “deport now, appeal later” policy was first introduced when Baroness Theresa May was home secretary in 2014 as part of the Conservative government’s hostile environment policy to try and reduce migration.
It saw hundreds of people returned to a handful of countries like Kenya and Jamaica under Section 94B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, added in via amendment.
In 2017, a Supreme Court effectively stopped the policy from being used after it was challenged on the grounds that appealing from abroad was not compliant with human rights.
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However, in 2023, then home secretary Suella Braverman announced she was restarting the policy after providing more facilities abroad for people to lodge their appeals.
Now, the current government says it is expanding the partnership from eight countries to 23.
Previously, offenders were being returned to Finland, Nigeria, Estonia, Albania, Belize, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kosovo for remote hearings.
Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia are the countries being added – with the government wanting to include more.
Image: Theresa May’s hostile environment policy proved controversial. Pic: PA
The Home Office claims this is the “the government’s latest tool in its comprehensive approach to scaling up our ability to remove foreign criminals”, touting 5,200 removals of foreign offenders since July 2024 – an increase of 14% compared with the year before.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country.
“Under this scheme, we’re investing in international partnerships that uphold our security and make our streets safer.”
Both ministers opposed the hostile environment policy when in opposition.
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In 2015, Sir Keir Starmer had questioned whether such a policy was workable – saying in-person appeals were the norm for 200 years and had been a “highly effective way of resolving differences”.
He also raised concerns about the impact on children if parents were deported and then returned after a successful appeal.
In today’s announcement, the prime minister’s administration said it wanted to prevent people from “gaming the system” and clamp down on people staying in the UK for “months or years” while appeals are heard.
TRM Labs says the Embargo ransomware group has moved over $34 million in ransom-linked crypto since April, targeting US hospitals and critical infrastructure.