G20 Financial Leaders requests Regulators to provide Multilateral Reaction to Crypto

Jun 10 2019

G20 finance leaders and central bank governors have asked the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and global standard-setting organizations to track the risks which are involved in crypto assets. The request was made on joint communiqué published on Japan's Ministry of Finance June 9.

The G20 leaders have accepted the request of international organizations along with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in this area.

The leaders have jointly signed the document state which urges the specific institutions to give greater consideration to crypto assets and carry out appropriate action:

“We welcome the FSB’s directory of crypto-asset regulators, and its report on work underway, regulatory approaches and potential gaps relating to crypto-assets. We ask the FSB and standard setting bodies to monitor risks and consider work on additional multilateral responses as needed.”

The joint statement also states that "technological innovations, along with the underlying crypto assets, can provide essential benefits to the financial system and broader economy." The exact statement was included in a document released after the G20 summit conducted in July last year in Buenos Aires. 

After speaking with such optimism, the authors of the papers raised concerns regarding the technologies:

“While crypto assets do not pose a threat to global financial stability at this point, we remain vigilant to risks, including those related to consumer and investor protection, anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT).”

The latest statement also notes that the concerned parties look forward to the adoption of the Financial Action's Task Force (FATF) Interpretive Note and guidance on crypto assets  “at its [FATF’s] plenary later this month.” The leaders also said that they repeat their commitment to applying the recently added FATF standards for crypto.

Director and Co-founder of NEM Ventures, Save Hodgson stated that the FSB's analysis of decentralized financial technologies and regulatory issues is encouraging, saying that he moves ahead in order to get more concrete suggestions in the near future.

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