Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is to be announced as the agency to oversee and regulate the virtual asset industry. Reportedly, the collapse of crypto exchanges like FTX has prompted Taiwan authorities to seek ways to protect users in the event that a similar event recurs.
Self-regulation of the virtual asset industry
According to Taiwanese officials, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), Taiwan’s financial sector regulator, will become the agency that will supervise and regulate the country’s virtual currency industry, according to CNA’sreport; an announcement to that effect is expected in late March or early April.
As for the rationale for the government’s decision to appoint the FSC as the agency overseeing Taiwan’s virtual assets, the report suggests that the FTX’s failure helped convince government officials to consider ways to protect users in the event of another major failure. The report also reportedly mentioned countries where virtual currencies are controlled by financial regulators, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Israel.
The FSC is reportedly keen to have virtual assets under its control by the end of March 2023, but still wants the industry to take the lead in developing guidelines. Taking the initiative includes the development of a “self-regulatory code”. According to the report, such a code would be needed to set points of internal control.
After the proposal for the regulation of the virtual asset space is submitted, Taiwan’s so-called Executive Yuan will be responsible for its approval.
Meanwhile, the FSC is expected to oversee virtual currencies and crypto exchanges, while other assets, such as non-fossil tokens (NFTs), will likely fall under the jurisdiction of another regulatory body, according to the report. Stablecoins, on the other hand, will likely be supervised by the country’s central bank, the report added.
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