In a letter yesterday to the Financial Stability Board, the American Bankers Association said it supported the recommendations in two recent reports on establishing a proposed framework for the international regulation of cryptoasset activities, but the association also had some recommendations for what should be included in the final framework. FSB has been developing a set of international guidelines for regulating cryptoassets and in October released two reports with recommendations on what shape those guidelines could take.
ABA said the reports “provide a useful, principles-based approach to guide the international community in applying existing market and prudential regulation to a novel category of financial activity, and in filling gaps by developing new standards and guidance, as necessary.” As FSB works to finalize the framework, ABA said it strongly supports the application of the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation” to cryptoasset activities; urged FSB to adopt stronger, more affirmative language in the framework; and asked the board to explicitly distinguish bank tokenized deposits from global stablecoin arrangements and make clear that bank tokenized deposits are not captured by either reports’ recommendations.
ABA also urged the board to include a recommendation cautioning against the adoption of rules that inhibit regulated entities from participating in cryptoasset markets when their participation can be accomplished in a safe and sound manner.
