Hearing focuses on “how bad actors are exploiting the financial system during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
6/16/2020 15:30
The House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy met for a hearing June 16 titled “Cybercriminals and Fraudsters: How Bad Actors Are Exploiting the Financial System During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Legislation discussed included the:
- Internet Fraud Prevention Act.
- The “COVID-19 Restitution Assistance Fund for Victims of Securities Violations Act.”
- The “Senior Investor Pandemic and Fraud Protection Act.”
- A bill to require the federal financial regulators to issue guidance to encourage depository institutions to establish programs to educate customers at risk of unwittingly becoming money mules.
Takeaways from the hearing include:
- International geopolitical threats were front and center as testimony and subsequent questioning focused on national security and the active threat of state actors seeking to exploit American weakness and undermine American hegemony during the pandemic.
- An undercurrent against both virtual currency and fintech was evident, with the witness panel taking a strong stance on the need for additional regulatory requirements and reporting, investigative and law enforcement authorities, and public-private as well as downstream intelligence and security partnerships.
Click to view the committee memorandum and watch a webcast of the hearing.
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