ASIC and Singapore Collaborate on Fintech and Bitcoin Regulation

Bitcoin and Fintech are two areas where regulation will play a major role in the coming years. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has reached out to the Monetary Authority of Singapore to make sure regulatory measures do not hinder the growth for Fintech and Bitcoin.

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Regulation is Important to Bitcoin and Fintech Companies

Like most other countries in the world, Australia wants to foster financial innovation, as well as give homegrown startups a fighting chance for success abroad. With the Fintech and Bitcoin sectors both driving innovation to a new level, it only makes sense financial regulators are playing close attention to the proceedings in these industries.

At the same time, it is of the utmost importance for regulators to ensure they do not stifle innovation either. There is a thin line to walk between being too lenient and too harsh regulation, and collaboration in this space is direly needed. This is why it is noteworthy how the ASIC and the MAS are in talks already, and both parties are quite excited about the future collaboration.

Greg Medcraft, ASIC chairman, will be attending the spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank later this week. During this event, he will present a session on the topic of “Digital disruptions to the financial system”, and make a case for a more collaborative framework for Bitcoin and Fintech regulation.

It is worth noting how Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, personally invited Mr. Medcraft. Both parties met up earlier this year as the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the future of Fintech was discussed at length. Partnerships between established financial players and Fintech startups could lead to new services, more innovation, and reducing costs.

Distributed ledgers play an integral role in the innovative aspect Fintech brings to the table. Bitcoin, the world’s leading digital currency, is built on top of a blockchain, effectively decentralizing that particular financial ecosystem. Moreover, Bitcoin transactions are subject to very low fees, which is part of the reason this technology has attracted so much attention as of late.

The future of Bitcoin and Fintech seems to be intertwined, and financial regulations need to tread carefully when coming up with a legal framework for this technology. Both Australia and Singapore seem to be on the right track of achieving that goal, and it will be interesting to see what this collaborative effort leads to in the future.

Source: SMH

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