Troy lawmaker gets big legislative win
Davidson calls for commission to limit risk of cyberthreats.
Congressman WASHINGTON, D.C. — Warren Davidson had what he called his biggest legislative accomplishment last week when the U.S. House passed his first standalone bill designed to get the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s “house in order.”
The House passed by way of a voice vote the Market Data Protection Act introduced by Davidson, R-Troy, at the beginning of October. It passed out of the House Financial Services Committee by a 59-1 vote.
Davidson, who began to represent the 8th Ohio Congressional District in June 2016, said the legislative win is “nice.”
“You come here to solve problems and change laws,” he said. “Part of the problem we continue to see data breeches and the government hasn’t done a great job of securing their own.”
The bill is designed to protect the personal information of U.S. citizens in light of the massive 2016 SEC data breach that was revealed in September. The bill directs the SEC to develop and implement proper risk assessment protocols to reduce, stem or eliminate potential exposure to cyberthreats.
It also directs the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Thesys Technologies to accelerate its cybersecurity risk controls before collecting data in the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) to prevent future hacker attacks.
But the SEC apparently wants a year-long delay before the CAT begins receiving data on trading because of concerns about cybersecurity, according to Bloomberg News. In addition to last year’s SEC data breach, the credit-reporting agency Equifax had its computer database breached twice earlier this year.
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in October until questions he has regarding the CAT system, the agency will not accept data from CAT until they were answered, according to Bloomberg.
The bipartisan support for the bill is especially satisfying for Davidson.
“They get the direction we’re trying to go,” said the conservative freshman congressman.
This bill now goes bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, but Davidson said he was assured because of the seemingly widespread support of Market Data Protection Act that the CAT database will incorporate the guidelines outlined in the bill.