According to information shared by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the US House Appropriations Committee has reduced the budget requested by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the upcoming 2025 fiscal year budget bill, from $25.9 billion to $20 billion. Additionally, the House has included several riders in the budget bill, including one that prohibits the SEC from enforcing or implementing the controversial accounting guidance SAB121.
According to previous reports 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 collaboration between banks and cryptocurrency companies very difficult.
Although the US Congress had previously voted to repeal SAB 121, President Biden later used his veto power to overturn Congress’s decision to repeal 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 have to comply with its provisions. The provisions in the budget bill will legally restrict how the SEC can use its appropriations, including prohibiting the use of these funds to enforce specific policies or regulations, such as SAB 121.