CONTACT: Laura Peavey
(202) 457-8770
lpeavey@fsforum.com
Forum Welcomes Rescission of Staff Accounting Bulletin 121
“A step in the right direction toward providing regulatory clarity for financial institutions serving customers engaging in the digital asset ecosystem.”
Washington, D.C. – Financial Services Forum President and CEO Kevin Fromer issued the following statement today in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rescission of Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121:
“This is a step in the right direction toward providing regulatory clarity for financial institutions serving customers engaging in the digital asset ecosystem. SAB 121 made it cost prohibitive for Forum members to provide consumers with the safest and most secure way to hold their digital assets. Last year, it was made clear that Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle opposed this staff guidance and a rescission was necessary. Forum members applaud this action and look forward to continuing to work with the new Administration to provide Americans with the financial products and services they need.”
In March 2022, the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant released SAB 121, without consulting the prudential regulators or soliciting public comment, to address perceived risks to publicly traded companies that safeguard digital assets for their customers. Under SAB 121, an entity responsible for safeguarding digital assets for platform users must measure safeguarding assets and obligations on its balance sheet at the fair value of the related assets. This represented a significant departure from longstanding accounting treatment for custodial assets and threatened the industry’s ability to provide its customers with safe and sound custody of digital assets.
Read the joint trades’ July 2024 letter to House leadership in support of a bipartisan resolution to overturn SAB 121.
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The Financial Services Forum is an economic policy and advocacy organization whose members are the eight largest and most diversified financial institutions headquartered in the United States. Forum member institutions are a leading source of lending and investment in the United States and serve millions of consumers, businesses, investors, and communities throughout the country. The Forum promotes policies that support savings and investment, financial inclusion, deep and liquid capital markets, a competitive global marketplace, and a sound financial system.
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