Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee hearing entitled, “Bureaucratic Overreach or Consumer Protection? Examining the CFPB's Latest Action to Restrict Competition in Payments.”

Thank you very much Mr. Chair. I have long raised concerns about Big Tech’s expansion into financial services and I am pleased that the CFPB is finally taking action to oversee these companies. Big Tech already dominates markets and possesses massive amounts of consumer data, but has not been subject to the CFPB supervision that banks and other financial institutions already follow.

When I was Chair, this Committee held Big Tech to account, including by convening a hearing with Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, over his plans to develop a cryptocurrency called Libra. Moreover, when Democrats led passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, we presciently empowered the CFPB to supervise any large nonbank, including Big Tech, when they facilitate payments or offer financial products to consumers, to ensure that consumers are always protected no matter who they are dealing with. I am pleased they are using these tools, as intended.

I look forward to today's discussion and I yield back.

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