Biden exercises veto power to protect against harmful legislation SAB 121 Congress responds with budget bill riders

Biden exercises veto power to protect against harmful legislation SAB 121 Congress responds with budget bill riders

Biden exercises veto power to protect against harmful legislation SAB 121 Congress responds with budget bill riders

According to information shared by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the United States House Appropriations Committee has reduced the budget requested by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the upcoming 2025 fiscal year budget bill, decreasing it from $25.9 billion to $20 billion. In addition, the House has included several additional provisions in the budget bill, including a ban on the enforcement or implementation of the controversial accounting guidance SAB121 by the SEC.

According to a previous report by Zombit, the “Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121” (SAB 121) proposed by the SEC requires financial institutions holding customer cryptocurrencies to record them as liabilities on their balance sheets. Critics of this guidance argue that it will make cooperation between banks and cryptocurrency companies very difficult.

Although the U.S. Congress had previously voted to abolish SAB 121, President Biden subsequently used his veto power to overturn the congressional resolution to “abolish SAB 121.” Now, Congress is countering the Biden administration by including the provision to “prohibit the SEC from enforcing SAB121 accounting guidance” in the budget bill.

If this budget bill is passed by Congress, the SEC will be required to comply with its provisions. The terms in the budget bill will legally restrict how the SEC can use its appropriations, including prohibiting the use of these funds to implement specific policies or regulations, such as SAB 121.