Today in TechREG: Fed’s Vice Chair Tells Congress Benefits of US CBDC; CFPB Questions Credit Card Data Practices

Today in TechREG, Lael Brainard, vice chair of the Federal Reserve, on Thursday (May 26) told Congress in a hearing about the benefits and risks of having a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). While her remarks were carefully crafted to not show any policy preference from the Federal Reserve, some of her points seemed to make a case for the digital currency. Also, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sent letters to the main credit card firms to ask about their policies regarding the suppression of payment data to credit bureaus.

Fed’s Vice Chair Brainard Makes a Case for a US CBDC In Congress

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard testified before the Committee on Financial Services in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, May 26 to examine the benefits and risks of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Her written testimony was released by the Fed before the discussion, and in it Brainard, with a carefully crafted speech, seems to make a case for a U.S. CBDC.

“CBDC could coexist with and be complementary to stablecoins and commercial bank money by providing a safe central bank liability in the digital financial ecosystem, much like cash currently coexists with commercial bank money.”

CFPB Targets Credit Card ‘Suppressed Data’ Practices

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced in a Wednesday (May 25) blog post that it has sent letters to the nation’s biggest credit card companies to question them about why they are not regularly providing data to credit bureaus on the actual monthly payments their borrowers are making.

The CFPB has provided 30 days for the companies to answer in writing. These letters are not either an official probe or a supervisory request — thus, answering these questions is not mandatory. However, the information provided, while being confidential, will be used to support the agency’s ongoing market and policy planning.

CFTC Roundtable on FTX’s Derivative Proposal Flags Barriers

A roundtable organized by the CFTC on Wednesday was centered on the CFTC’s consideration of a proposal from crypto exchange FTX to disintermediate derivatives trading on its platform.

Stakeholders from the derivatives trading were present, with representatives from exchange operators CME and ICE joined by others from Citi, Goldman, FTX, Citadel, JPMorgan and BlackRock.

Irish Data Protection Agency Publishes Children’s Data Protection

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has produced three short guides for children on data protection and their rights under the GDPR. These guides are aimed mainly at children aged 13 and over, as this is the age at which children can begin signing up for many forms of social media on their own.

Broadcom Announced Plan to Buy VMware for $61 Billion

Broadcom’s purchase of VMware will help the company diversify away from its core business of designing and selling semiconductors into enterprise software, which can have larger margins, CNBC reported. VMware’s products are used by enterprises to more efficiently run their own servers as well as cloud servers.