IMF, Others To Provide Regular Updates To G20 On Implementation Of Crypto Roadmap: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that global multilateral agencies will provide regular updates to the G20 countries on the implementation of the crypto regulation roadmap, according to a media report. "The G20 has formally adopted the roadmap (for crypto)... The IMF, FSB, and the FATF will be required to provide regular updates to the G20 regarding the progress and implementation of the G20 roadmap on crypto assets," said Sitharaman referring to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Financial Stability Board (FSB), and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The virtual G20 Leaders' Summit, which effectively marked the end of India's Presidency concluded on Wednesday (November 22).

The 18th G20 Leaders' Summit was held in New Delhi successfully on 9th and 10th September, 2023. It saw the unanimous adoption of the G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration.

The goal of having a global and common roadmap would be to help countries put in place an agreed minimum policy standard for crypto assets which, would aim to (i) safeguard nations' macroeconomic, financial stability, and financial integrity;(ii) provide for appropriate investor/user awareness, education and protections; (iii) and facilitate development of the underlying technology and encourage innovations in the financial sector.

The roadmap would allow for flexibility of actions to be taken forward and already taken by the most suitable expert bodies, in accordance with their mandates, governance, and reporting processes, facilitating coordination on financial stability and macro-financial-related aspects of the sector between the various IOs and SSBs and reporting on an agreed schedule to the G20. The timeline for the action points would be decided by the relevant IOs.

The IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper aims to bring together a comprehensive overview of the risks across the financial system - macrofinancial, financial stability, and financial integrity risk. It will provide a broad roadmap that can subsequently be considered for adoption by the G20.

The Roadmap to be endorsed by the G20 would incorporate the agreed FSB and SSB workplans on regulatory issues, as well as other work of the IOs under one umbrella for ease of reference, allowing the G20 to articulate its priorities cohesively and with a clear monitorable framework.

It is worth mentioning that in his opening remarks at the virtual summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the creation of a global social impact fund to spread and implement Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the countries of the Global South, with India initially contributing $25 million to this fund.

On this proposal, the FM said that the exact contours of the global Social Impact Fund proposed by PM Modi to spread digital public infrastructure are yet to be finalized.