H.B. 474 Uniform Commercial Code Modifications: transcript

House Judiciary Committee, Feb 13, 2026

1. Committee chair (presiding)47:19

   We'll move to the next item on the agenda. HB 4 74, uniform commercial code modifications. Representative Loubet, do you wanna present from there? Representative? Yes. Okay. Lemme see. Is that your light?

2. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet47:34

   That is perfect. Alright. Thank you. Pull up my, Oh, Okay. Great. Alright. So, uh, as for many of you are probably familiar, the Uniform Commercial Code, uh, is a group that will, um, propose, uh, legislate or legislation to help with uniformity of, uh, transfers of commercial assets, um, between within the state and between states. Um, and so this one is a recent amendment and it's to, uh, address a current reality. So previously, under our current current code, um, actually not previously current, under our current code, uh, there are three different asset classes. We've got money, investment property, and then we also have general intangibles. But in our modern, uh, day and age, we also now are dealing with, uh, some other, uh, type of, of forms of like cryptocurrency, you know, Bitcoin, um, things like that. And so right now, because of those three asset classes, everything has been categorized, uh, under the general intangible category. Um, what my bill is doing is adopting the language that actually recognizes a fourth class, um, that will, uh, be able to be where these things come under. It's called Controllable Electronic Assets. And this section, article 12, will go into, uh, what are the laws that govern these type of digital assets? How are they transferred, um, security, uh, how they can be secured, um, and things like that. And so, um, this bill is just to kind of make it more, uh, updated. We've been having conversations with the Bankers Association to make sure these changes are in line with what, uh, they're familiar with. And having conversations with a professor at BYU who does secure transactions. Um, she's not taking any sort of policy position, but this is her area of expertise and it's been helpful in trying to answer these questions. Um, she was trying to be available this morning to answer anybody's questions 'cause this is a very niche area of law. Uh, but she had a conflict, she did want to say that if there are questions after this committee, she's still available to answer any from the, the committee members. Um, and with that, that concludes my presentation.

3. Committee chair (presiding)49:56

   All right. Thank you. We will come to the committee for clarifying questions or discussion. Seeing no lights, we'll go to the public for comment. Is there anyone here who would like to Howard welcome? Anyone else who would like to speak to this bill so I can get a number? Okay. Are light on the public comment today? Thank you for being here. Please proceed.

4. Howard Headlee, President, Utah Bankers Association50:25

   Thank you, Madam Chairman. My name is Howard Headley. I'm the President of the Utah Bankers Association, and I just wanted to, uh, thank Representative Loubet for bringing this bill. It's is a very technical bill, um, but it's very important and it'll bring these assets into the economy in a uniform way. Um, 33 other states have adopted this uniform law, so this is just gonna make it a lot easier to transact business as it relates to this asset class. So thank you for your time in considering this bill. Thanks to Representative Loubet for leading out on this actually very important matter. Thank I encourage your support.

5. Committee chair (presiding)51:09

   Thank you. All right. We'll come back to the committee for potential action or further discussion. Representative Ox here.

6. Unknown speaker51:18speaker not certain

   Oh, um, Howard, there's a question for you, representative Ox here. Um, yeah, so I'm just wondering. I know. So yes, it's very technical, so trying to get some information. I know, um, cryptocurrency has kind of been unregulated and traded, you know, outside the normal banking system. So how exactly would this bring in some of the transacting of cryptocurrency into the regular framework that we work with?

7. Howard Headlee, President, Utah Bankers Association51:48

   Yeah. Um, well, as Representative Loubet indicated, there's certain classes of assets now, and one of those is, you know, currency money, um, and cryptocurrency. Technically, we don't recognize it as money, and so otherwise we could just put it in that class and, and treat it that way. And so, because we can't do that, this creates a, a new kind of class in a, in a uniform way of looking, treating, tracking. The, the key here is, is who owns it? It, it's hard. We have to know who owns it. And on the blockchain, you know, there's a very unique way of determining who owns what. And this uniform law simply acknowledges that type of asset and, and, and makes it uniform. Now we can identify who, who owns it. So, um, who can use it. Um, if you were to lend against it or just custody of it, that those types of issues, it's a lot easier for us to transact business with with this, uh, with this change

8. Unknown speaker53:01speaker not certain

   to the uniform laws. Does that, does This, does this have any, um, implications for any federal laws in how it's treated at the federal level?

9. Howard Headlee, President, Utah Bankers Association53:09

   No. No. Uh, it really just allows it to function in the economy. This is not regulation of any type. It's just a way that different parties can just know how it's being treated and so that they, it can actually be useful.

10. Unknown speaker53:28speaker not certain

    Can you give just an example of how it's tracked? Um, Or how it will be tracked?

11. Howard Headlee, President, Utah Bankers Association53:34speaker not certain

    You're probing beyond my ability to, uh, that's, that's where the BYU professor probably would've been really helpful here. Sponsor, or maybe he'll ask this BYU professor. So

12. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet53:47

    I don't know. Yeah. So, so with this one, um, the, as Howard mentioned, as I mentioned about the different asset classes, cryptocurrency is transferred and handled differently than the general intangible category. And so because of the whole blockchain type thing, this code goes into a little bit more detail of like, who is actually holding the assets in the digital wallet. And that allows, uh, this also allows, um, the holder to exclude those others that are not related to that transaction. And so, um, the big two big functions are the priority by the control and the fungibility for buyers to be able to transfer these assets.

13. Unknown speaker54:23speaker not certain

    Can I ask another question? I know that it's not quite proper, but, um, okay. So with being able to see what's in the wallet, um, sorry, your last, your last part. That was my question. What did, what did you say? The, the fungibility of, of moving it around and being able to, who's all gonna be able to see just the people party to that transaction?

14. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet54:49

    So that is generally how the blockchain works. Now, that gets into the whole blockchain area, and that is way beyond what I'm familiar with. Um, and so the, the bill is trying to like, reflect how those currency or not currencies, how those type of assets are transferred, but I don't know, it doesn't, I'm not familiar with like, the level of, uh, detail of how blockchain works.

15. Committee chair (presiding)55:17

    Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Okay. We will, we don't have anybody online, so we'll come back to the committee for potential action or further discussion. Representative Millard?

16. Rep. Tracy Miller55:39

    Thank you Madam Chair. Uh, I, uh, move the first substitute on house bill 4 74.

17. Committee chair (presiding)55:47

    Okay. The motion is to adopt the first substitute to HB 4 74. Would you like to speak to that? A Waive To the sponsor?

18. Rep. Tracy Miller56:00

    I waive Thank you.

19. Committee chair (presiding)56:03

    Discussion to the motion to adopt the first sub. So no lights. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Representative Gricius. Oh, Representative Gricius, would you like to vote on that last motion? Okay. Um, and now we'll go back to Representative Miller.

20. Rep. Tracy Miller56:33

    Thank you. I'll move, uh, to favorably recommend House Bill 4 74 for substitute to the house floor. For their consideration, The motion is to favorably recommend the first substitute of House Bill 4 74.

21. Committee chair (presiding)56:47

    Would you like to speak to that?

22. Rep. Tracy Miller56:48

    Uh, just real briefly, uh, in law school, I intentionally did not take any universal uniform of commercial code classes because it was way over my head and it was for Smarties, not for people like me. Unfortunately, it's on the bar exam. And so I had to, uh, pay the piper one summer and had to track down a professor. And, uh, tried over and over again to wrap my head around, uh, attachment and securities, uh, tangible and intangible, uh, uh, interests. And I finally got it, and I did okay on the bar exam about it, but, uh, this is difficult subject matter. So I commend the, uh, bill sponsor for bringing this forward and to modernize it. A lot of this stuff hasn't been touched for a hundred years, and a lot has changed in our society in a hundred years. And so I, I appreciate the modifications. Thank you to the sponsor. I appreciate the motion, and I would, uh, enjoy the having the committee support.

23. Committee chair (presiding)57:38

    Okay. Any discussion to the motion? Seeing no lights, we'll take a roll call. Vote. Representative Abbott, aye. Acton? Aye. Gracious. Yes. Hawkins? Yes. Lube? Yes. Millard? Yes. Thompson? Yes. Clancy? Yes. Libe. Aye. That motion passes unanimously.

Senate Business and Labor Committee, Feb 27, 2026

House floor, Feb 23, 2026

1. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:13:01speaker not certain

   First substitute house bill 4 74 uniformed commercial code modifications by Representative Loubet. This bill was served in judiciary with the vote of 9 0 2 Representative Loubet.

2. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:13:14

   Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro Tem. Uh, this bill is amending sections of our surge secured transactions, part of the code. Um, currently under our law there are three different asset classes. There's money, there's investment property, and then there's the kind of the catchall of general intangibles. Well, each of these talk about who has ownership and priority. Um, but one of the new things that we are now dealing with is cryptocurrency. And a lot of those things aren't, uh, the same. And so what this section is doing is creating another asset class called con, uh, controllable electronic records. And for example, under a general intangible, the ownership is the first in, uh, first in time is the first and right. But when you're looking at cryptocurrency, it's the last person who's in the chain that has ownership. And so this is to help, uh, specify who has ownership to cryptocurrency. It's not anything, uh, it's trying to have our laws come into conformity with other state laws, uh, with this type of asset class. And with that, that concludes my presentation.

3. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:14:18

   Thank you Representative Loubet discussion to the bill Representative Hansen.

4. Rep. Leah Hansen1:14:25

   Thank you Mr. Speaker Proton. Will the sponsor yield to a question

5. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:14:28

   Sponsor yield? Yes, go ahead.

6. Rep. Leah Hansen1:14:31

   Thank you Mr. Speaker Pro time on lines 2 34, I mean 1234 and 35. It says that a letter of credit confirmation advised transfer amendment or cancellation may be issued in any form that is assigned record. I'm noticing, um, that the info that was stricken out, I mean it wouldn't, we want verifiable or authenticated signatures on that. Well, can you tell me the code section again? Um, 1234 and 35. I was just noticing the information, like the information that was stricken out. Wouldn't we want authenticated signatures or just information? Is there a reason why it appears as if it's not needed?

7. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:15:11

   So the definition of a signed record, uh, if you look at it is what makes it authenticated. So there, the parts of this code are trying to update the verbiage so that way the term is signed, uh, get replaced where the words authenticated are, because there was both being used in the code. And so this conforms with the, the word signed. So either way it's still authenticated, but this is telling the way in which it is authenticated.

8. Rep. Leah Hansen1:15:39

   Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

9. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:15:41

   Thank you, representative Fanon. Further discussion to the bill. See none.

10. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:15:46

    Representative Loubet for summation,

11. Rep. Anthony E. Loubet1:15:48

    I waive Submission is waived.

12. Speaker Pro Tem (presiding)1:15:49

    Voting is open on first substitute house bill 4 74 uniform commercial code amendments Representative Dominguez seeing all present having voted voting will be closed First substitute house bill 4 74, having received 71 yay votes and one nay vote passes the house will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration matter. Meeting clerk

Senate floor, Mar 5, 2026

1. Senate presiding officer2:26:03

   That motion passes the bills. UNC circle. Senator Cullimore,

2. Sen. Kirk A. Cullimore2:26:08

   Thank you. This, this bill updates Utah's commercial code to recognize digital assets such as cryptocurrency as a distinct type of monetary asset for commercial transactions. Currently cryptocurrency is not recognized as money under existing law. And because of that it does not fit cleanly within traditional asset categories. This bill creates that new legal category. So digital assets can be clearly recognized, transferred, secured, and used in commerce with consistent rules. Uh, the key provisions here is that it establishes a new asset category for digital assets. It clarifies ownership and control. It governs secure transactions involving digital assets and aligns with Utah's, uh, aligns Utah with modern commercial practices. So we have clear rules for ownership and transfer. We allow, uh, digital assets to function more fully in secured lending and commercial transactions. We strengthen Utah's permission or position in emerging financial technology markets and ensures that our law reflects the realities of modern commerce. Looking for a discussion? Seeing none. I'm gonna go to you for summation and a motion. I will waive summation. My motion is that we pass first substitute house bill 4 74.

3. Senate presiding officer2:27:20

   Thank you. The question is, shall under suspension of the role shall first substitute house bill four seventy four pass roll call vote. Senator Vickers Baldry Lein RA bus call Moore. Aye. Escamia Aye. Bill Moore. Aye. Grover Aye. Harper. Aye. Aye. Hankins Aye. Gibson. Aye. Johnson Aye. Juab? Aye. Okay. Mikel Milner Musselman Owens pitcher plum rebe Aye. Sandal Aye. Stevenson Stratton Bickers Aye. Weer Aye. Wilson. Aye. Winterton President Adams Aye. First substitute house Bill 4 74. Having received 23 yay votes, his zero na votes six being absent passes. This body will be signed by the president. Return to the house for the signature of the speaker.