Global banking regulator plans to hold consultation on crypto exposure

Published at: June 7, 2021

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said it will be publishing a consultation paper aimed at banks reducing their risk of exposure to crypto. 

According to the Switzerland-based Bank of International Settlements, or BIS, the Basel Committee will publish the paper on crypto exposure this week following its decision to hold a public consultation on the matter. The announcement came during a Friday meeting, during which the committee also discussed the impact of the current pandemic on the banking system as well as any proposed policy initiatives:

“While banks' exposures to cryptoassets are currently limited, the continued growth and innovation in cryptoassets and related services, coupled with the heightened interest of some banks, could increase global financial stability concerns and risks to the banking system in the absence of a specified prudential treatment.”

The BIS added that though many authorities seek the approval of the Basel Committee, the regulator relies on its members to enforce proposed actions. In other words, the committee’s decisions do not carry the force of law. Banking regulators from countries including Japan, the United States and many nations in Europe are members of the group.

Calling for a “prudential treatment” of crypto has been a common theme for the committee. In 2019, the regulator said that cryptocurrencies were “unsafe to rely on” as a medium of exchange or store of value.

Tags
Related Posts
Presenting Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz
The annual Crypto Finance Conference (CfC), an international conference on digital asset and blockchain conceived for sophisticated investors and decision makers, will be held on Jan. 20–22, 2021. Among featured speakers there will be representatives of Winklevoss Capital, Swiss National Bank, the European Parliament, Ledger and others. Cointelegraph serves as the main media partner for the CfC St. Moritz 2021 and prepared a special page dedicated to the event. The program of the three-day event will include discussions on the macro-perspective and micro-perspective on the industry – on Jan. 20 and 21, and focus events about social impact and decentralization …
Adoption / Nov. 11, 2020
Ukraine joins the comity of crypto-friendly nations with new regulation
The legal status of cryptocurrencies remains a mixed bag of regulatory positions, depending on the jurisdiction being considered. While some countries move toward blanket prohibitions or stringent regulations, others elect to go with a more open approach to crypto. For Ukraine, the latter path appears to be the case, with the government encouraging legalized crypto operations within the country. Ukraine’s seemingly positive stance on cryptocurrencies also stands in stark contrast with neighboring Russia where officials are enacting regulatory roadblocks against the ownership and use of digital currencies. While Ukraine enacts laws to recognize and regulate crypto, the country’s central bank …
Adoption / Sept. 24, 2021
OCC's Brian Brooks thinks that DeFi can root out bias and fraud in traditional banking
In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Tuesday, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks put forward the need to reconfigure banking regulations for an age of algorithms. Brooks, who currently leads the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, compared existing banking regulations to traffic laws. He further used the analogy of self-driving cars for new steps in decentralized finance. "Just as the original rules of the road protected us from other drivers, so our current bank regulations exist mainly to prevent human failings," wrote Brooks. The overall tone of Brook's letter is confident that …
Regulation / Jan. 12, 2021
A storm is brewing between state regulators and the OCC over fintech licensing
A leading association of state banking regulators is trying to put the U.S. national banking regulator in its place on the issue of fintech registration. Per a Dec. 22 filing, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, or CSBS, says the impending approval of Figure Technology's bank charter a bridge too far. Figure operates blockchain-backed lending and investment services. It announced its application to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a charter at the beginning of November. At the time, CEO Mike Cagney noted the relative convenience of a national charter, saying:"we'll have over 200 state licenses next …
Regulation / Dec. 23, 2020
Crypto Bahamas: Regulations enter critical stage as gov't shows interest
The crypto community and Wall Street converged last week in Nassau, Bahamas, to discuss the future of digital assets during SALT’s Crypto Bahamas conference. The SkyBridge Alternatives Conference (SALT) was also co-hosted this year by FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of the hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, kicked off Crypto Bahamas with a press conference explaining that the goal behind the event was to merge the traditional financial world with the crypto community: “Crypto Bahamas combines the crypto native FTX audience with the SkyBridge asset management firm audience. We are bringing these two worlds together to create a …
Adoption / May 3, 2022