SEC Announces Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology

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. Valerie A. Szczepanik will continue to lead FinHub as its first director and will report directly to the SEC Chairman.

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.

“The SEC is committed to innovation in our markets, consistent with our time-tested regulatory framework,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “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.”

“The scope and complexity of FinHub’s work has continued to evolve and expand as technology itself has evolved,” said Ms. Szczepanik. “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.”

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.