The International Organization of Securities Commissions finalized its recommended policies to govern digital assets markets.

Details: The IOSCO report generally proposes applying global standards for securities regulation to the crypto markets, with 18 policy recommendations under six key areas covering issues such as conflicts of interest, market manipulation, and operational and technological risk. Responding to industry feedback, the group strengthened recommendations for considering conflicts of interests and manipulative media practices at crypto providers.

Background: IOSCO’s report is the first attempt to establish international baseline policies for nations to implement to address the risks associated with crypto asset service providers, such as crypto exchanges.

ICBA Comments: In comments to IOSCO earlier this year, ICBA said the policy recommendations are prudent steps to safeguard the financial system against the risks posed by crypto assets. ICBA’s comments also reinforced its view that cryptoassets are likely securities and should be subject to oversight from market regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DeFi Recommendations: IOSCO has separately issued recommendations for establishing policies on decentralized finance, which ICBA supports to help member nations identify and manage key risks, ensure clear and comprehensive disclosures, enforce applicable laws and regulations, and foster cross-border cooperation.

More: Recent Main Street Matters posts from ICBA Senior Vice President of Digital Assets and Innovation Policy Brian Laverdure cover recent crypto collapses, the evolving regulatory environment for digital assets, and the policy debate over treating cryptoassets as securities or commodities.

IOSCO news release: https://www.iosco.org/news/pdf/IOSCONEWS712.pdf