The office of the Commonwealth Secretariat of Massachusetts, which oversees the state securities regulator, formed a FinTech advisory group, according to American Banker.
The entity formed a group that includes representatives of the Eastern Bank in Boston, a blockchain company called Arwen, legal and academic experts and other companies.
In this way, the group will focus on the development of the FinTech industry, including digital currencies.
William Gavin, secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, stated:
“This working group includes key agents from a broad spectrum of the FinTech community, ranging from innovation zones and startups to financial institutions. This collaboration will help us advise security regulators to meet the demands of this rapidly growing ecosystem”.
What did the CEO of Arwen say?
Sharon Gooldberg, CEO of Arwen, told American Banker that the purpose of this group was not to “punish” companies that do not comply with the regulations, but to provide clarity to the businesses that operate in the FinTech space:
“Personally I would not be doing this if everything that will be generated is more action against companies in this space. Corrective actions are fine, but first we need to know the rules”.
Fintech and the role for lawyers
On the other hand, Ethan Silver, president of the Lowenstein Sandler brokerage firm, commented that many FinTech companies hired teams of lawyers and consultants to make sure they did not accidentally break any laws.
William Gavin has already been critical of cryptocurrencies in the past. In December 2017, he assured that Bitcoin (BTC) is a bubble that will eventually become a “product without value”.
Likewise, Gavin also declared that blockchain technology was a “nascent technology subject to changes, errors or criminal activity” and that Bitcoin is “a fertile ground for schemes of fraudulent investment and other financial frauds”.
Also published on Medium.