As mainstream financial regulators and standards setters start coming to grips with the emerging crypto asset sector, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published its first directory of authorities around the world that are engaged in the effort.
The FSB directory summarizes the responsibilities of regulators and other authorities in various FSB jurisdictions, along with certain international bodies — such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the World Bank — when it comes to crypto-asset issues.
The directory is to be provided to the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at their upcoming meeting on April 11-12.
The group says its publication of the directory aims to contribute to its ongoing work on crypto assets, including its efforts to monitor for possible systemic risks, using a framework developed by the FSB and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI).
So far, the FSB has found that crypto assets don’t represent a material risk to global financial stability, but that policymakers must remain vigilant, given how quickly the market is evolving.
“Crypto-assets also raise several broader policy issues, such as the need for consumer and investor protection,” it says, adding that other policy concerns include money laundering risks, tax evasion and the threat of illegal securities offerings. “These risks are the subject of work at national and international levels.”
For Canada, the guide covers the Bank of Canada, various provincial securities regulators (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Québec), federal financial regulators (the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada), along with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Department of Finance and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
Last month, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) also published a joint consultation paper on crypto regulation, which focuses on developing a framework for regulating crypto exchanges. That paper is out for comment until May 15.