News Roundup — Blockchain Regulations and Legislation
What’s new in the blockchain regulatory and legislative arena? Following are some recent developments:
Switzerland, Israel to explore potential blockchain regulations
Switzerland and Israel plan to share information on how to regulate blockchain, under a wider request by Swiss officials to open their banks to Israeli markets, Reuters reported on 17 September. The report quoted Joerg Gasser, head of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for International Financial Matters, as saying, “We need market access and each other’s markets unfettered and as free as possible.” Gasser made his comments during a visit to Israel “to discuss financial cooperation”, Reuters reported. While visiting with Finance Minister Ueli Maurer, Gasser said he asked Israel for a response within a year’s time. “Israel’s Finance Ministry declined to comment, but said in a statement both sides had agreed to cooperate across on issues including market access, financial technology regulation, cryptocurrencies and combating money laundering and terrorist financing,” Reuters said.
Taiwan moves forward with voluntary crypto oversight
Some 50 companies so far have registered for the Taiwan Crypto Blockchain Self-Regulatory Organization (TCBSRO), according to a 18 September post on the Singapore-based startup blog e27. “As it currently stands, Taiwan’s main securities regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), has not released any detailed guidance regarding their stance on how cryptocurrencies and ICOs should be treated; they have, however, publicly pledged not to regulate against them,” reported Jun Wakabayashi, an analyst who covers southeast Asia and the Taiwan-based startup accelerator AppWorks. The TCBSRO — led by Taiwanese legislator Jason Hsu, the ‘crypto congressman’ — is a voluntary organisation of industry representatives that aims to develop standards and best practices for blockchain technologies. While the group’s guidelines won’t be legally enforceable, “they will help establish a ‘code of conduct’… that will not only help protect the reputation and credibility of good actors, but also set the stage for more fruitful discussions with decision makers later down the line”, Wakabayashi wrote. In August, Hsu — a former tech entrepreneur — told Forbes he hopes to help Taiwan develop as a blockchain island and crypto nation.
Message from EU officials: Take time with crypto regulations
Europe is in “no rush” to regulate the crypto market, Bloomberg reported on 8 September. “Finance ministers gathering in Vienna agreed that they won’t rush with steps to further regulate the market, and that they’ll wait for the outcome of a thorough analysis by European authorities before deciding on any steps, according to officials involved in the talks,” the report said. A report prepared for the meeting by Bruegel, a Belgian think tank, recommended that EU nations try individual regulatory approaches first before settling on a wider solution for the continent. The report began by asking six key public policy questions: “[H]ow great is the potential of crypto assets in advanced financial systems? What is the best way to combat illegal activity such as money laundering and terrorism finance? How can consumer and investor protection be ensured? What about financial stability? How might crypto assets be taxed? And how can blockchain applications be embedded into the existing legal framework?”
“We argue that at this point regulation is the right approach,” the Bruegel report stated. “Second, global cooperation in the managing risks of the new technology should be ensured while reaping the opportunities it undoubtedly provides. The G20 and the Financial Stability Board should set regulatory norms that address the six policy questions. Standard-setting organisations such as the International Organisation for Standardization should also play a role. Third, EU policymakers need to agree on the right moment to move supervision of crypto assets from the national level to the EU level.”
US lawmakers weigh “regulatory clarity” for crypto
Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson is following up a 25 September roundtable on cryptocurrencies with a call for “regulatory clarity” in the crypto market, WHIO-TV reported. According to the news station, Davidson intends to “introduce a House bill that would offer what he calls a ‘light-touch’ regulation of the burgeoning and complex cryptocurrency market”. Such regulations, he said, are needed in an industry where innovations have “outpaced current law and court decisions”. Around 80 crypto and financial industry representatives attended the event on ‘Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies’, according to CoinDesk. Their overall message: the industry needs “regulatory clarity”.
