SEC's Peirce on Reg BI: 'It's Important That We Move Forward'

Securities and Exchange Commission member Hester Peirce said Tuesday that she “looks forward” to seeing Regulation Best Interest — part of the securities regulator’s advice-standards package — finalized, as Reg BI is a priority for SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and for her.

While not offering a timeline for completion, Peirce, a Republican, stated during an event held at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington on Tuesday: “I do think it’s important that we move forward with the [Reg BI] rulemaking.”

The government shutdown “did affect a lot of things, and it affected rulemakings as well, so that does have an effect on Reg BI as well as other rulemakings,” Peirce said at the BPC event, titled “The Year Ahead for Capital Markets.”

Also on the panel was Brian Quintenz, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Reiterating previous comments that the SEC’s approach to cryptocurrencies is “confusing,” Peirce stated that she believes the securities regulator needs “to do a better job in explaining to people how our rules apply to this sector.”

Her “main concern,” she continued, has been that the agency needs “to do a better job providing guidance” about cryptocurrencies. “A lot of people are out there raising money and just calling it ‘crypto,’ and say ‘Ah, we can avoid the securities laws,” Peirce stated.  “…But there are gray areas, and I think we need to do a better job in sort of laying the groundwork on how someone would come to decide which side they’re on.”

Peirce also cautioned against the SEC’s unwillingness to approve a Bitcoin ETF.