McHenry Announces House Financial Services Subcommittee Chairs, New Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion

House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) recently announced the committee’s subcommittee chairs for the 118th Congress, as well as his plans to establish a new subcommittee on digital assets, financial technology, and inclusion to prioritize oversight and legislation for the fintech industry. The new subcommittee will be chaired by Representative French Hill (R-Ark.), and the vice chair will be Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio).

According to Politico, McHenry said in an interview that he plans to create the subcommittee because there is “a big hole in how we structure the committee” when dealing with issues of cryptocurrency.

The subcommittee will be responsible for providing clear rules among federal regulators for the digital asset ecosystem, as well as forming policies to promote fintechs to reach underserved populations. It will also identify best practices that strengthen inclusion and diversity in the digital asset ecosystem.

McHenry has placed crypto regulation at the top of his legislative agenda, so the new subcommittee will hold hearings and play an important role in developing bills. In the past, the HFSC was focused on overseeing banks and Wall Street firms, but crypto has overtaken Congress’ regulatory agenda.

Throughout the last few years, the digital asset industry emerged as a lobbying force when startups tried to establish an amicable regulatory environment. However, crypto firms are currently playing defense after a crash in the last few years, and the collapse of the exchange FTX, which led to fraud charges against its top executives.

McHenry also announced that Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) will chair the Subcommittee on Capital Markets; Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) will chair the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy; Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) will chair the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions; Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) will chair the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations; and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) will chair the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.