ASA Outlines Priorities for Treasury

Sends letter to Senate Finance ahead of Bessent Treasury Secretary nomination hearing

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee leadership outlining its priorities for the Treasury Department heading into the Trump administration.

“Mr. Bessent is expected to assume his role at a time when American institutions – including those within the financial system and the Treasury Department itself – are under constant attack from state-sponsored cybercriminals, especially those supported by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said ASA President and CEO Chris Iacovella. “The U.S. economy and small businesses are also grappling with the consequences of one of the most heavy-handed periods of regulation in our nation’s history. We urge caution before adopting any additional policies that could impair our well-functioning financial markets and the finances of state and local governments, or blindly continuing those that make it easier for nation-state cybercriminals to steal the personal and financial information of American investors.”

In the letter, ASA urged the Senate Finance Committee, the Treasury Department and the Head of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to focus on the following policy areas:

Combat the CCP Cyberthreat

“The Treasury Department was the latest victim of CCP hacking as it informed Congress in December of a substantial breach that led the hackers to access certain documents,” Iacovella wrote. “Unfortunately, certain agencies within government have failed to appreciate the aggressiveness and ultimate goals of CCP-backed hackers. This includes, most concerningly, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is requiring the collection of every American investors’ personally and financial information (PII) by a national registry called the consolidated audit trail (CAT).”

Protect the Municipal Bond Tax Exemption

“As Congress begins the process of developing tax reform legislation this year, the ASA is concerned that eliminating the longstanding municipal tax exemption continues to be considered as a potential revenue raising mechanism,” Iacovella wrote. “We believe this is an entirely misguided idea that will unnecessarily disrupt a well-functioning market and cripple the balance sheets of many state and local economies.”

Incentivize Small Business Capital Formation

“As Congress is well aware, this regulatory overhang has disproportionately fallen on small and start-up businesses and crippled job creation,” Iacovella wrote. “The new administration, at Treasury’s direction, must take an all-of-government approach to promoting small business capital formation and encouraging more companies to eventually conduct an initial public offering (IPO).”                                                                          

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The American Securities Association (ASA) represents the retail and institutional capital markets interests of regional financial services firms who provide Main Street businesses with access to capital and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. ASA’s mission is to promote trust and confidence among investors, facilitate capital formation, and support efficient and competitively balanced capital markets. This mission advances financial independence, stimulates job creation, and increases prosperity. The ASA has a geographically diverse membership of almost one hundred members that spans the Heartland, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States.