The House of Representatives passed a bill on Monday (July 22) that is designed to combat the use of financial technology for illicit finance.

The Financial Technology Protection Act of 2023 (H.R. 2969), sponsored by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, establishes the Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing under the Department of Treasury and encourages public-private sector partnership in examining issues surrounding illicit finance in the digital asset ecosystem, according to a Monday press release issued by the House Financial Services Committee.

Having passed the House, the bill now goes to the Senate, the House Committee on Financial Services Republicans said in a Monday post on X.

The bill was introduced in the House by Nunn and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., while a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and Ted Budd, R-N.C., Nunn said in an April 2023 press release.

“This bipartisan bill establishes a working group of key federal government departments, intelligence agencies, private organizations and their innovation, as well as private-sector experts to combat terrorism and illicit financing on digital platforms,” Nunn said in remarks delivered to the House before the vote on Monday and posted in a video on YouTube. “The working group will consist of experts to develop legislative and regulatory proposals to tackle anti-money laundering and address security risk, as well as prevent illicit financing activity right here in the United States.”

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a report issued in April 2023 that vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) are enabling criminals to transfer and launder illicit proceeds.

The primary vulnerability exploited by bad actors is the fact that many DeFi services have failed to implement anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations, according to the report.

Other vulnerabilities include some DeFi services not being covered by existing AML/CFT obligations, some jurisdictions having weak or nonexistent AML/CFT controls in this area, and some DeFi services having weak cybersecurity controls.

In October, it was reported that the Hamas attack on Israel may have been funded in part by cryptocurrency, as crypto transactions allow that group and others to bypass traditional banking systems.

“I think CFOs continue to deal with a lot on their plate,” Ankur Agrawal, a partner in McKinsey’s New York office, and co-author of the report, told me. “So in many ways, this survey is consistent with the expanding challenge of the CFO role.”

Supply chain disruptions, weak demand, geopolitics, and also technology disruption are among the challenges finance chiefs say need to be addressed. Fifty-five percent of CFOs surveyed pointed to long-term planning and resource allocation as a top priority for finance, up from 30% in Q1 2023. And 60% now say strategic planning is a top priority, compared to 38% who said the same last year, according to the report.

It’s not that managing the short term has become easier for CFOs. There’s still uncertainty in the macro environment. But there’s a bit “more confidence on visibility in the near term,” Agrawal said. “The variables are more understood than not.” 

McKinsey research also points to challenges with implementing technology. Nearly all respondents (98%) say their finance functions have invested in digitization and automation, and believe that gen AI has the potential to create value. However, the majority of CFOs surveyed say just one-quarter or less of their processes were digitized or automated in the past 12 months. And less than half of respondents say they currently have their finance processes automated.

What is causing the slow pace? “I think the biggest challenge and roadblock is, honestly, talent,” Agrawal said.  

More than limitations due to infrastructure, tools, and data, CFOs say the main hurdle is finding finance professionals who can really leverage and deploy these advanced technologies, he said. 

Another finding is that CFOs are twice as likely than in Q1 2023 to predict their companies’ investment levels will remain unchanged—a departure from the past two surveys, when CFOs predicted an increase in investment. Why does Agrawal think there’s a hesitation in investments? With elections in the U.S. and in other parts of the world and economic volatility still a concern, “you can call it cautious steering,” he said.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Aaron Rosenberg was named CFO at BeiGene, Ltd. (Nasdaq: BGNE), a global oncology company, effective July 22. Rosenberg will succeed Julia Wang, who is departing to pursue external opportunities and will stay with the company through August. Rosenberg has more than 20 years of experience at Merck & Co., Inc., most recently serving as SVP and corporate treasurer. He also held roles such as SVP of corporate strategy and planning and VP and finance lead of Merck Animal Health. 

Logan Powell, global president and CFO at Puttshack, a provider of tech-infused mini-golf venues, was promoted to CEO, effective immediately. Powell succeeds Joe Vrankin, who oversaw the company’s growth in the U.K. as CEO and subsequently brought the concept to the U.S. in 2021. Powell and Vrankin have collaborated on this transition, as Vrankin will be moving on from the company. Powell has served as CFO since 2019. Before joining Puttshack, he was a partner at Copper Beech Capital, LLC.

Big Deal

Don’t drown in data debt; champion your Data First culture is a new report released by HFS Research, a global research and analysis firm, in partnership with Syniti, a data management provider. More than 80% of enterprise leaders say that effective data management significantly drives the top line, bottom line, and shareholder value. However, over 40% of their organizational data is unusable and is not trusted, according to the report.

“Many business leaders still take a backseat when setting key data objectives, causing data to remain siloed across departments, and resulting in misaligned expectations across IT and business professionals,” Phil Fersht, CEO and chief analyst, HFS Research, said in a statement. The findings are based on interviews of more than 300 Global 2000 business leaders (49% from the U.S.) across industries to find out how organizations are navigating a complex landscape of data management.

Going deeper

“Here’s how Wall Street and business leaders are reacting to Biden’s exit from the presidential race” is a new report by Fortune’s Jason Ma, in light of President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he won’t seek reelection. For example, Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group said in a statement: “Biden stepping down is a whole new level of political uncertainty.”

Overheard

“One mistake has had catastrophic results. This is a great example of how closely tied to IT our modern society is—from coffee shops to hospitals to airports, a mistake like this has massive ramifications.”

—Nick Hyatt, director of threat intelligence at security firm Blackpoint Cyber, told CNBC in an interview regarding the botched software update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike on Friday that caused a global IT outage.