By Elizabeth Hearst for AMLi
European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness has said the EU’s new crypto regulations will help “protect investors and consumers.”
Speaking at the launch of the EU Digital Finance Platform, Commissioner McGuiness stressed proposed regulations on crypto will set “clear rules” for previously unregulated crypto assets, including stablecoins.
This, she said, will create “legal certainty for innovators” allowing them to “scale-up their activities in the EU,” adding that the new regulations will preserve “market integrity and financial stability.”
She revealed that EU Member States and the European Parliament are now set to enter final negotiations on the proposed regulations.
“Given how fast the market for crypto assets is growing and how many retail investors it attracts, we really have no time to lose,” said Commissioner McGuinness.
She emphasised the importance of supporting innovation in finance more effectively, and for this to happen, we need “close co-operation and convergence among national supervisors,” she added.
“Finance is changing dramatically, and regulators and supervisors must make sure they have the knowledge and capacity to be proactive… I worry that if we fail to do that, we risk falling behind – rather than being ahead of the curve,” said Commissioner McGuinness.
Last week, MEPs from the ECON and LIBE committees adopted their position on draft legislation requiring crypto transfers to be traced and identified as part of the EU’s AML Action Plan.
MEPs voted with 93 votes in favour of the draft regulations, which will require all transfers of crypto assets to include information on the source of assets and its beneficiary. This information will also be made available to competent authorities.
MEPs say the aim of these regulations is to “ensure that crypto transfers can be traced and suspicious transactions blocked.” However, regulations will not apply to person-to-person transfers conducted without a trading platform.
Minimum thresholds and exemptions for low-value transfers have also been removed by MEPs.
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