UK drafting stablecoin regulations proposal and researching CBDC. The United Kingdom Treasury Department has announced that it is preparing legislation to control private stablecoins. It is also investigating digital currencies of the central bank (CBDC) as an alternative to currency.
In an announcement published on Nov. 9, U.K. Treasury Chancellor Rishi Sunak noted the forthcoming regulatory proposals alongside other goals for the country’s financial services industry — including a review of the U.K.’s listings regime and support for green finance.
“New technologies such as stablecoins – privately-issued digital currencies – could transform the way people store and exchange their money, making payments cheaper and faster.”
The news comes amid a week of decisive negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union over a post-Brexit trade deal. Chancellor Sunak said he hopes the U.K.’s financial services sector will lead “the global conversation on new technologies like stablecoins and central bank digital currencies” moving forward “We are starting a new chapter in the history of financial services and renewing the UK’s position as the world’s pre-eminent financial center […] Our plans will ensure the UK moves forward as an open, attractive and well-regulated market.”
The announcement notes that the draught guidelines would require stablecoin programmes to comply with the same minimum requirements as organisations operating with other payment methods, although specifics are scarce.
The document also reveals that both England’s central bank and treasury are currently researching a CBDC, with the Chancellor welcoming work from the two departments into “whether and how central banks can issue their own digital currencies as a complement to cash.”
[image: Jamie Street]
