Ms. Peirce said while commenters — like asset managers attending the conference — are overwhelmed trying to comment on each proposal, the staff at the SEC are also impacted by having too much on their plate, which makes it “hard to think through every angle.”
“Sometimes you might see something in a rule, and you might say, ‘Well, why didn’t the SEC think of that?'” she said. “It’s because people are working so hard, and they just don’t have the time to necessarily think through everything.”
This is not the first time that Ms. Peirce has expressed concern about the SEC’s rule-making pace. At an SEC meeting March 22, she said that while the commission needs commenters’ input on each proposal, “commenters are overwhelmed at the moment.”
Trade associations, such as the Investment Adviser Association and Investment Company Institute, have also voiced their concerns with the agency’s rule-making pace.
Ms. Peirce said determining implementation dates is an important part of rule-making, stating: “I think it is important for us to be thinking, even at the proposal stage, of what an implementation period might look like.” She referenced fellow GOP Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, who has previously suggested staggering compliance deadlines to avoid overwhelming regulated entities.
On the issue of cryptocurrency, Ms. Peirce said, “I think we’re in a really bad place from a regulatory perspective.”
Acknowledging that she’s not aligned with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on the issue, Ms. Peirce said the commission could do a better job of figuring out “how crypto should slot into existing regulations and where those regulations might need to be tweaked.”
While legislation on the issue would be helpful, the SEC could still do more to figure out how digital assets fit into the current regulatory framework, Ms. Peirce said.
Mr. Gensler has repeatedly said that the cryptocurrency industry is largely non-compliant, and firms should follow the securities laws as written, since the majority of cryptocurrencies are securities.
Mr. Gensler also spoke at the conference, highlighting several of the agency’s proposals, including the two rules that the commission is set to consider at their meeting Wednesday. One rule would require enhanced disclosures for repurchases of an issuers’ equity securities. The other rule would require expanded reporting requirements for large hedge funds and private equity firms.
In his remarks, Mr. Gensler emphasized that the SEC’s clients “are the American public, investors and issuers alike,” noting that Congress gave the agency the authority to collect information from private funds as necessary to protect investors and evaluate systemic risk.
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