House Financial Services Chairman French Hill is working to turn financial regulations into law, aiming to make it harder for future administrations to reverse these rules. Since the start of the year, Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, has led the committee in approving nearly 100 bills. He has emphasized using the current Republican control of government to establish permanent laws.
“We’ve all experienced in our time in Congress the seesaw back and forth between administrations using executive authority or proposing rulemakings,” Hill said at a briefing on December 10. “And I think where you have consensus and you can put it into law and make a permanent change, society is better off. Consumers are better off. The market participants have certainty.”
One legislative package passed by the House on December 11 aims to increase capital for startup companies and expand access for ordinary investors. Several bills direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take actions that could otherwise be done through regulation alone. For example, two bills propose changes to who qualifies as an accredited investor eligible to buy private securities—one sponsored by Hill would add criteria such as licenses and educational background; another by Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska would create qualifying exams.
Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan introduced legislation allowing automatic electronic delivery of certain regulatory documents like prospectuses and account statements. Huizenga said he discussed this with SEC Chairman Paul Atkins before the bill’s passage, noting Atkins “wholeheartedly agreed” with codifying some regulatory moves into law.
“My message to him [was]…yes, you could do some of these things on your own, but don’t you think it’d be better if we could cement them in and lend that predictability,” Huizenga told reporters at the December 10 briefing with Hill. “To calm the markets, especially in a turbulent time and in a turbulent world, in my mind, is far better, and we can help do that by driving real consensus on policy that gets cemented in through legislation” rather than just regulatory actions.
Cryptocurrency oversight may see regulations move ahead of legislation despite recent Congressional action on stablecoins; broader crypto-related bills are under consideration. The House passed a bill over the summer sponsored by Hill setting out rules for digital asset markets’ operation and oversight while the Senate works on its version.
SEC Chairman Atkins has stated several times that his agency already possesses sufficient authority for cryptocurrency regulation but acknowledged recently that having clear legislation would strengthen their efforts.
“I have confidence that whatever comes out of Congress, that will bolster what we’re doing,” Atkins said at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit on December 9. “What is really important to me is that we future-proof what we’re doing. Whatever happens down the road, we don’t have the pendulum swinging the other way and then having a lot of our efforts washed away.”
The American Fintech Council supports another bill from Hill establishing an Office of Independent Examination Review within federal banking oversight bodies so financial institutions can appeal audit findings more effectively—a process similar to one intermittently maintained by federal regulators since 1995.
Ian P. Moloney, chief policy officer at American Fintech Council, argued making this appeals process part of law would ensure stability: “By codifying the change, you inherently make it more durable,” Moloney said. “What we’re looking for is to ensure that settled expectations by regulatory entities are able to be maintained throughout administrations.”
Hill summarized his position: “I don’t think there’s anything that’s more superior to finding consensus in Congress and passing something into law.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 11:30 AM.
