Merkley, Brown, Shaheen Ask Gao for Updated Report on the Financial Technology Marketplace

Statement

Today, Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) wrote to the head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), asking for an updated report on the rapidly-expanding financial technology, or "fintech," marketplace.

Merkley, Brown and Shaheen serve respectively as the top Democrats on the Senate's Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee; the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Small Business Committee.

GAO last conducted a study of the fintech marketplace in 2011, in a report that focused exclusively on peer-to-peer lending sites. In the five years since, the fintech marketplace has grown significantly and branched out into new areas, including small business lending.

"Observers have questioned what the appropriate role of federal regulators should be in supervising fintech companies that provide small business capital and consumer lending," the Senators wrote. "… [I]t is possible that the current online marketplace for small business loans falls between the cracks for federal regulators. As we saw during the crisis, gaps in understanding and regulation of emerging financial products may result in predatory lending, consumer abuse, or systemic issues."

Source