Top European financial institutions and technology companies are pressing lawmakers to accelerate reforms governing distributed ledger technology, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance landscape. In a joint letter, 39 signatories, including prominent firms such as Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, as well as fintech associations from several EU countries, have urged the European Commission and Parliament to decouple the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review. By handling these rules independently, the firms argue that updates can be implemented more swiftly.
The DLT pilot, established in 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, on blockchains. However, as part of a larger set of 18 financial laws progressing through the EU's legislative process, industry groups warn that this could be a protracted process. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and eliminating license expiry dates.
These proposed changes, they contend, would provide firms with the necessary latitude to establish robust markets rather than limited trials. This development comes as 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 comprehensive legislative package in its entirety, as part of its broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.