The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, commonly referred to as FinHub, will become a stand-alone office. Through FinHub, market and technology innovators, as well as domestic and international regulators, have been able to engage with SEC staff on new approaches to capital formation, trading, and other financial services within the parameters of the federal securities laws.
Established within the Division of Corporation Finance in 2018, FinHub has spearheaded agency efforts to encourage responsible innovation in the financial sector, including in evolving areas such as distributed ledger technology and digital assets, automated investment advice, digital marketplace financing, and artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Designating FinHub as a stand-alone office strengthens the SEC’s ability to continue fostering innovation in emerging technologies in our markets consistent with investor protection. The office will continue to lead the agency’s work to identify and analyze emerging financial technologies affecting the future of the securities industry, and engage with market participants, as technologies develop.
Valerie Szczepanik will continue to lead FinHub as its first director and will report directly to the SEC chair. As Director of FinHub, she will coordinate the analysis of emerging financial innovations and technologies across the SEC’s divisions and offices and with global regulators and will advise the Commission and SEC staff as they develop and implement policies in this area.
“The scope and complexity of FinHub’s work has continued to evolve and expand as technology itself has evolved,” said Szczepanik in a statement. “This organizational shift will facilitate the agency’s agility and flexibility to work with market participants and regulators worldwide, and to encourage leading-edge innovation that will shape the intersection between the federal securities laws and technology.”
“The SEC is committed to innovation in our markets, consistent with our time-tested regulatory framework,” said SEC chair Jay Clayton in a statement. “Our action to establish FinHub as standalone office furthers our commitment to facilitate the introduction of new technologies for the benefit of investors and the efficiency and resiliency of our markets.”