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June 12, 2000 High Tech/Financial Services Coalition Praises Agreement on E-Signature Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – The Electronic Financial Services Council (EFSC) praised an agreement reached Friday by a Congressional Conference Committee on legislation that will remove barriers to e-commerce by ensuring the nationwide legal validity of electronic signatures and records. The Conference Committee filed its Conference Report on the "Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act" on June 9, reconciling the House and Senate electronic signature bills that passed last November. The report maintains important provisions originally added to the House bill by Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) that will allow consumers to receive financial notices and disclosures electronically and allow financial products and services to be available at Internet speed. Final passage of the legislation by the House and Senate is expected soon. Jeremiah S. Buckley, a partner in Goodwin, Procter, & Hoar’s Washington D.C. office and Counsel to the EFSC, hailed the agreement, saying, "This legislation will usher in a true revolution in the financial industry and will have far greater impact than last year’s financial services modernization legislation. It will bring about radical changes not only in the methods of delivery of financial services, but in the nature of the financial products themselves and the structure of the companies that provide them. Consumers will be empowered to take the features of varying financial products, to mix and match them, and to create new financial products and services that are tailored to their individual needs." Catherine Valentine, Vice President of the Electronic Financial Services Council and General Counsel of Intuit, also praised the agreement, saying, "If enacted into law, this legislation will provide businesses the legal certainty necessary to innovate and invest in the new technologies that will make electronic commerce possible. Consumers will have the opportunity to initiate and complete transactions online, if they choose to do so, and the disclosures they receive will be far more effective and efficient than those they receive on paper." The EFSC has actively promoted e-signatures and e-records as part of its mission to encourage the adoption of legislation and regulation designed to ensure that electronic commerce continues to revolutionize the availability and delivery of financial services. The EFSC urges swift passage of the bill as an essential step toward promoting the continued growth and evolution of e-commerce. The EFSC was founded by Intuit, GE Capital Mortgage, Microsoft and Countrywide Home Loans in December 1998. Other EFSC members include: Cendant Mortgage, Chase Manhattan Mortgage, Citigroup Mortgage, Inc., Creditland, E-Loan, Esurance, The First American Financial Corporation, Freddie Mac, GMAC Mortgage Corporation, Lender’s Services, Inc., Lending Tree, The Principal Financial Group, signOnline, Ultraprise Corporation, United Guaranty, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Xpede, For additional information, go to www.efscouncil.org.
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