A coalition of 39 prominent European financial institutions and tech companies is pressing lawmakers to accelerate reforms in the rules governing distributed ledger technology, cautioning that Europe is in danger of lagging behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a collaborative letter addressed to the European Commission and Parliament, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and various EU fintech associations, requested that the digital ledger technology pilot regime be separated from a more comprehensive package of 18 financial laws currently under review. According to reports from Bloomberg, the argument is that handling these regulations independently would facilitate more rapid updates.
The DLT pilot, which has been operational since 2023, enables companies to experiment with the use of blockchains for the trading and settlement of tokenized assets such as shares and bonds. However, it is currently embedded within a broader set of financial laws that are progressing through the EU's legislative process, a journey that industry groups predict could span several years. The coalition is advocating for pragmatic adjustments, including the expansion of permitted asset types, an increase in transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the elimination of license expiry dates.
They contend that these adjustments would provide companies with the latitude to establish substantial markets rather than merely conducting small-scale trials. This appeal comes at a time when the US is shaping its regulatory landscape for the industry, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at further integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated its preference for passing the entire legislative package as a unified whole, as part of its broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.