A coalition of 39 prominent European financial firms and technology groups is petitioning lawmakers to accelerate the revision 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 collaborative letter, signatories including the Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and several EU fintech associations have urged the European Commission and Parliament to detach the digital ledger technology pilot regime from a more extensive legislative package currently under review. According to the signatories, handling the rules independently would enable more rapid updates, as reported by Bloomberg. The DLT pilot, established in 2023, permits firms to experiment with the trading and settlement of tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, using blockchain technology.
Presently, the pilot is part of a broader set of 18 financial laws progressing through the EU's legislative process, a journey that industry groups predict could span several years. The coalition is advocating for practical revisions, including the expansion of permissible asset types, the increase of transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the elimination of license expiry dates.
These modifications, they argue, would provide firms with the necessary latitude to develop substantial markets rather than limited trials. This petition comes as the US is shaping its regulatory landscape, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at integrating cryptocurrency into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package collectively as part of its broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.