Senate Banking Committee Members Urge Examination of Chinese Payment Networks

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and 10 other Republican Senators urged Treasury and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ("USTR") to examine the impact of Chinese Communist Party ("CCP") payment networks on the U.S. financial system.

In a Letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, the Senators expressed concern over the CCP's efforts to expand its influence within the U.S. financial system and the global payments market. The Senators requested that Treasury and the USTR closely examine the "infiltrat[ion]" of Chinese payment networks into the United States to ensure that U.S. payment providers are not disadvantaged by China's disregard for international agreements, and to conduct a review of any potential gaps in U.S. sanctions authority created by the CCP's expansion of its Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). Additionally, the legislators raised concerns about Chinese government requirements that businesses share financial data with the CCP including personally identifiable information.