Senior officials from public authorities meet on stablecoins

Senior officials from public authorities worldwide met in Basel on Monday to discuss policy and regulatory issues posed by the emergence of "stablecoin" initiatives backed by financial institutions and large technology companies.

The conference was hosted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and included presentations by Fnality International, the Libra Association and JP Morgan.

"A key part of assessing new initiatives is to understand the details," said Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS. "When such initiatives cross national borders, it's important for regulators to coordinate and come to a common understanding."

The event was convened by the Group of Seven working group on stablecoins chaired by Benoît Cœuré, Chair of the BIS-hosted Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures. The group will produce a final report on its work by mid-October.

"As a new technology, stablecoins are largely untested, especially on the scale required to run a global payment system," said Mr Cœuré. "They give rise to a number of serious risks related to public policy priorities. The bar for regulatory approval will be high."