On 30 September 2022, ESBG responded to the second public consultation of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) on the prudential treatment of banks' crypto asset exposures, which is built on the proposals in the first consultation issued in June 2021.
The basic structure of the proposal in the first consultation is maintained, with crypto assets divided into two broad groups: Group 1 includes those that are eligible for treatment under the existing Basel Framework with some modifications. Group 2, on the other hand, includes unbacked crypto asset and stable coins with ineffective stabilisation mechanisms, which are subject to a new conservative prudential treatment.
In the response to the second consultation in 2022, we advocated for the removal of the technological risk add-on from the proposed prudential framework.
The first reason for this would be the principle of technological neutrality. The regulation should focus on regulating the services but not the applicable technology in order not to prevent the adoption of a specific technology and to neither prefer nor prejudice a specific business model or service provider. Secondly, technological risk already exists in all asset classes. If persistent technological risks are detected, the supervisor could require actions for their mitigation or apply a Pillar 2 Requirement (P2R) surcharge. Finally, a common surcharge of capital would reduce institutions’ incentives to mitigate inherent risk.
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OCTOBER 2022 | TOPICS: Prudential, Supervision and Resolution | Public Consultation | Crypto Assests | Basel Framework | Technology Neutrality
