South Africa’s financial regulator announced its intention to bring crypto businesses under its oversight.
- The Financial Sector Conduct Authority said it intends to bring crypto assets into its regulatory remit “in a phased and structured approach,” in a position paper published Friday with the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG).
- Recommendations by the IFWG concern the implementation of an anti-money laundering framework for crypto asset service providers, a framework for monitoring cross-border financial flows and the application of financial-sector laws.
- Publication of the paper may provide some certainty for stakeholders in South Africa’s crypto industry, which has been hindered by a lack of clarity.
- Sean Sanders, CEO of Cape Town-based exchange Revix, bemoaned the slow rate of regulatory progress in the country, saying it stymied growth because customers “arrive at our platform with skeptcism.”
- Brandon Topham, head of enforcement for the FSCA, told Bloomberg in January that regulation would focus primarily on protecting consumers rather than businesses.
Source: Coindesk