The Financial Stability Board (FSB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have recently published a report outlining a comprehensive policy and regulatory response to cryptoasset activities. The report synthesises the IMF’s and FSB’s policy recommendations and standards. It illustrates macroeconomic and financial stability implications of cryptoasset activities, how they may interact, and how the IMF and FSB’s policy recommendations fit together. The report also encourages implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) standards to address risks to financial integrity and mitigate criminal and terrorist misuse of the cryptoassets sector.
The report finds that a comprehensive policy and regulatory response for cryptoassets is necessary to address the risks of cryptoassets to macroeconomic and financial stability. To address macroeconomic risks, jurisdictions should safeguard monetary sovereignty and strengthen monetary policy frameworks, guard against excessive capital flow volatility and adopt unambiguous tax treatment of cryptoassets. Comprehensive regulatory and supervisory oversight of cryptoassets can help to address financial stability and financial integrity risks while supporting macroeconomic policies. Comprehensive regulatory and supervisory oversight of cryptoassets should be a baseline to address macroeconomic and financial stability risks.
Some jurisdictions, in particular emerging markets and developing economies, may want to take additional targeted measures that go beyond the global regulatory baseline to address specific risks.
The report sets out a roadmap, developed together with relevant international organisations and standard-setting bodies, to ensure the effective implementation of the FSB’s and IMF’s recommendations and standards. The roadmap includes currently planned and ongoing work to build institutional capacity beyond G20 jurisdictions; enhance global coordination, cooperation, and information sharing; and address data gaps necessary to understand the rapidly changing cryptoasset ecosystem.
