[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4813 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4813
To prohibit large platform utilities from being a financial institution
or being affiliated with a person that is a financial institution, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 23, 2019
Mr. Garcia of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the
Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit large platform utilities from being a financial institution
or being affiliated with a person that is a financial institution, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Big Tech Out Of Finance Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION RELATED TO LARGE PLATFORM UTILITIES.
(a) In General.--A large platform utility may not be, and may not
be affiliated with any person that is, a financial institution.
(b) Prohibition Related to Cryptocurrencies.--
(1) In general.--A large platform utility may not
establish, maintain, or operate a digital asset that is
intended to be widely used as medium of exchange, unit of
account, store of value, or any other similar function, as
defined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System.
(2) Definitions.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the Board
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall define the
terms ``medium of exchange'', ``unit of account'', and ``store
of value''.
(c) Wind-Down Period.--With respect to a large platform utility--
(1) if the large platform utility is, or is affiliated with
a person that is, a financial institution on the date of
enactment of this Act, subsection (a) shall not apply to such
large platform utility until the end of the 1-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) if the large platform utility maintains or operates a
digital asset described under subsection (b)(1) on the date of
enactment of this Act, subsection (b) shall not apply to such
large platform utility until the end of the 1-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Penalty.--Any large platform utility or financial institution
that violates subsection (a) or (b) shall be subject to a fine of not
more than $1,000,000 per each day of such violation, in an action
brought by the appropriate Federal financial regulator.
(e) Rulemaking.--The appropriate Federal financial regulators may
issue rules to carry out this section.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Affiliate.--The term ``affiliate'' has the meaning
given that term under section 2 of the Bank Holding Company Act
of 1956.
(2) Alternative trading system.--The term ``alternative
trading system'' has the meaning given that term under section
242.300 of title 17, Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) Appropriate federal financial regulator.--The term
``appropriate Federal financial regulator'' means--
(A) the appropriate Federal banking agency;
(B) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in
the case of a commodity pool operator, commodity
trading advisor, and a futures commission merchant;
(C) the National Credit Union Administration Board,
in the case of a credit union;
(D) the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the
case of an alternative trading system, a broker, a
dealer, an investment adviser, an investment company, a
national securities exchange, and a private fund; and
(E) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, in the case of a financial institution or a
large platform utility that does not otherwise have an
appropriate Federal financial regulator under
subparagraph (A) through (D).
(4) Banking definitions.--The terms ``appropriate Federal
banking agency'', ``depository institution'', and ``depository
institution holding company'' have the meaning given those
terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act.
(5) Commodities definitions.--The terms ``commodity pool
operator'', ``commodity trading advisor'', and ``futures
commission merchant'' have the meaning given those terms,
respectively, under section 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act.
(6) Credit union.--The term ``credit union'' means a
Federal credit union or a State credit union, as such terms are
defined, respectively, under section 101 of the Federal Credit
Union Act.
(7) Digital asset.--The term ``digital asset'' means an
asset that is issued and transferred using distributed ledger
or blockchain technology, including, so-called ``virtual
currencies'', ``coins'', and ``tokens''.
(8) Financial institution.--The term ``financial
institution'' means--
(A) an alternative trading system;
(B) a branch or agency of a foreign bank, as
defined in section 1(b) of the International Banking
Act of 1978;
(C) a broker;
(D) a commodity pool operator;
(E) a commodity trading advisor;
(F) a credit union;
(G) a dealer;
(H) a depository institution;
(I) a depository institution holding company;
(J) a futures commission merchant;
(K) an investment adviser;
(L) an investment company;
(M) a national securities exchange;
(N) an organization operating under section 25 or
25A of the Federal Reserve Act;
(O) a private fund;
(P) a State-licensed money services business; and
(Q) any company engaged in activities that are
financial in nature or incidental to a financial
activity, as described in section 4 of the Bank Holding
Company Act of 1956.
(9) Large platform utility.--The term ``large platform
utility'' means a technology company--
(A) with an annual global revenue of
$25,000,000,000 or more; and
(B) that is predominately engaged in the business
of offering to the public an online marketplace, an
exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties.
(10) Money services business.--The term ``money services
business'' has the meaning given that term under section
1010.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
(11) Private fund.--The term ``private fund'' has the
meaning given that term under section 202(a) of the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940.
(12) Securities definitions.--The terms ``broker'',
``dealer'', ``investment adviser'', ``investment company'', and
``national securities exchange'' have the meaning given those
terms, respectively, under section 3 of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934.
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