A coalition of 39 European financial firms and tech groups is pressing for a swift overhaul of distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance if changes are not made promptly. In a joint letter to the European Commission and Parliament, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and various EU fintech associations, requested that the DLT pilot regime be decoupled from a larger package of 18 financial laws currently under review. By handling the DLT rules independently, the firms argue that updates can be implemented more quickly, as reported by Bloomberg.
The DLT pilot, launched in 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, on blockchains. However, as part of a broader legislative package, the process may take years to complete. The industry coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, raising transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and eliminating license expiry dates.
These changes, they contend, would provide firms with the necessary room to establish substantial markets rather than limited trials. The letter comes at a time when the US is shaping its regulatory landscape, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission, however, has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package collectively as part of its strategy to mobilize savings into investment.