Top European financial institutions and tech companies are calling on lawmakers to accelerate the revision of distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a joint letter, 39 prominent signatories, including Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, appealed to the European Commission and Parliament to detach the DLT pilot regime from a broader package of 18 financial laws currently under review.
By handling these rules independently, updates can be implemented more swiftly, according to Bloomberg. The DLT pilot, introduced in 2023, enables firms to test the trading and settlement of tokenized assets like shares and bonds using blockchain technology. However, as part of a larger legislative package, the process may take years to complete. The industry coalition is advocating for practical reforms, such as broadening the range of permitted assets, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and eliminating license expiry dates.
These changes would provide firms with the flexibility to establish full-fledged markets rather than limited trials. The letter coincides with the US's efforts to regulate the space, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package as part of its strategy to channel savings into investments.