Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators have introduced legislation “to protect Pennsylvanians, U.S. markets, and national economic security,” according to a news release.

The legislation, the news release said, is in response to growing concerns regarding the unequal regulatory landscape between the United States and China that exposes U.S. financial markets and consumer data to risk from Chinese Communist Party-linked firms.

“Pennsylvanians don’t want their hard�’earned savings snooped on or manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party,” said U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, according to the news release. “This bipartisan bill slams the brakes on CCP�’linked broker�’dealers and investment advisers until our regulators can give them a full, no�’nonsense inspection. Protecting American investors and our economic security isn’t a partisan fight, and I’m proud to team up with Senator McCormick to get it done.”

“The PRC Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Moratorium Act recognizes that CCP-linked firms pose an inherent risk to our financial system,” said U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, according to the news release. “This bill gives the financial regulators necessary time to evaluate the impact on U.S. consumer protection and protects the U.S. retail investor.”

While China restricts access of U.S. firms to its retail financial market, U.S. markets are more fully open for business to Chinese affiliates.

“These Chinese affiliates have access to millions of Americans’ personally identifiable information and sensitive data,” the news release said. “Further, U.S. regulators, including the SEC and FINRA, do not have the authority to conduct enforcement actions or examinations in mainland China. With the landscape of retail investing and market innovations quickly changing, the U.S. must act quickly to guard against the further intrusion of CCP-linked entities into our markets.”