The agencies released discussion papers relating to stablecoin regulation and custody in November.
Responses to the discussion papers on stablecoin regulation in the United Kingdom were originally all due Feb. 6, but the Bank of England (BOE) has extended the comment period on its paper to the morning of Feb. 12. The deadline for comments on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) discussion paper remained Feb. 6. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) submitted comments to the FCA on time.
The discussion papers were released on Nov. 6 as part of a “joint publication package” that was seen as the first step in comprehensive crypto-asset regulation. Although thematically related, the agencies’ papers approach the topic from different angles.
The BOE mainly addressed issues related to the use of a sterling-backed retail-focused stablecoin in systemic payment systems, such as transfer functions and requirements for wallet providers. The FCA discussion paper examined a range of stablecoin use cases and concentrated on auditing and reporting, prudential requirements, backing and custodianship. It emphasized the principle of “same risk, same regulator outcome.”
