One of many federal financial institution regulators within the U.S., and the one one which charters nationwide banks, is looking for public enter
One of many federal financial institution regulators within the U.S., and the one one which charters nationwide banks, is looking for public enter on the way it regulates new applied sciences and digital banking actions, together with cryptocurrencies and blockchain instruments.
In a sophisticated discover of proposed rulemaking revealed Thursday, the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC) mentioned it was reviewing its rules round digital financial institution actions to make sure that these rules “proceed to evolve with developments within the business.”
The discover, one in all two revealed Thursday, was signed by Performing Comptroller of the Foreign money Brian Brooks, the previous chief authorized officer of Coinbase who took workplace at OCC final week.
In an emailed assertion, OCC spokesperson Bryan Hubbard mentioned:
“The request for stakeholder remark is a part of the OCC’s dedication to accountable innovation and aligned with our understanding that banks should be capable to evolve to fulfill the wants of the customers, companies, and communities that depend on them. Our function is to make sure there’s a clear, supportive regulatory framework for banks to take action. The request for feedback helps guarantee we hear from stakeholders of every kind on these essential points.”
The discover particularly requested what kind of cryptocurrency-related actions banks and different monetary establishments are presently engaged in, and what actions clients have interaction in that influence banks.
“What are the boundaries or obstacles, if any, to additional adoption of crypto-related actions within the banking business? Are there particular actions that needs to be addressed in regulatory steering, together with rules?”
Individually from crypto property particularly, the discover requested about using distributed ledger expertise (DLT) in banking actions and – as with the crypto-related actions part – requested if there are any particular points that must be clarified.
“What new funds applied sciences and processes ought to the OCC pay attention to and what are the potential implications of those applied sciences and processes for the banking business? How are new funds applied sciences and processes facilitated or hindered by current regulatory frameworks?” the submitting mentioned.
The discover additionally briefly addressed Brooks’ suggestion that his workplace may situation a nationwide constitution for cryptocurrency exchanges, which might basically permit it to bypass the state-by-state framework that proper now requires firms to safe 50 cash companies enterprise (MSB) registrations to function nationwide.
“The OCC isn’t looking for touch upon its authority to situation a particular objective nationwide financial institution constitution,” it mentioned.
In a press release, Blockchain Affiliation government director Kristin Smith mentioned, “It’s heartening to see a prime banking regulator perceive the ability of cryptocurrency. The discover immediately signifies that Performing Comptroller Brooks is critical about modernizing banking rules in order that innovators can carry new options to the legacy monetary system.”
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