The Financial Stability Board issued its Crypto-assets regulators directory on April 5, 2019, in anticipation of this week’s upcoming G20 Meeting. The directory contains a listing of the regulatory and standard-setting bodies in each FSB jurisdiction having responsibility for the supervision of crypto-assets and the enforcement of relevant legal and regulatory requirements. The directory will be provided to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on April 11.
The purpose of the directory is to “provide information on the relevant regulators and other authorities in FSB jurisdictions and international bodies who are dealing with crypto-asset issues, and the aspects covered by them.” The directory is an outgrowth of the October 2018 FSB report on Crypto-asset markets: Potential channels for future financial stability implications. The report stated that “crypto-assets do not pose a material risk to global financial stability at this time” but that “vigilant monitoring is needed in light of the speed of market developments”. In that regard, consumer and investor protection, anti-money laundering, tax evasion, circumvention of capital controls and illegal security offerings were cited in the report as some of the possible financial system vulnerabilities underlying the need for supervisory vigilance. Those vulnerabilities were also addressed in a July 2018 FSB Crypto-assets report setting forth the metrics that the FSB will use to monitor developments in crypto-asset markets as part of the FSB’s ongoing assessment of vulnerabilities in the financial system.
Established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Stability Board is an international body that monitors the global financial system and makes recommendations to promote the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory and other financial sector policies in the interest of financial stability. The FSB is currently chaired by U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Randal Quarles.