(Bloomberg) — The world’s major financial lobbying groups called on regulators to pause the upcoming implementation of tough new standards governing banks’ cryptocurrency dealings and revisit measures they argue are needlessly onerous.
In a joint letter to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the trade associations said policymakers should “seek updated information” on the use cases for the distributed ledger technology that underpins digital assets, and weigh “any appropriate redesign and recalibration” of the standards due to be adopted in 2026.
The rules, which include steep capital surcharges for banks that hold cryptocurrencies, were agreed in 2022 against a backdrop of crypto market upheaval and a string of scandals that stirred concerns about financial contagion. At the time, top banking executives including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon publicly lambasted the industry.
Since then, crypto has pushed into the financial mainstream — particularly in the US, where President Donald Trump has pushed through legislation to support the industry. Major global banks like JPMorgan are now making inroads into the asset class, in areas ranging from custody to facilitating trading and stablecoin issuance.
The Tuesday letter’s signatories include the International Institute of Finance, The International Swaps & Derivatives Association and the Global Blockchain Business Council, as well as the US’s Banking Policy Industry, along with regional markets associations for the US, Europe and Asia.
The Basel Committee had no immediate comment. The Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision Michelle Bowman declined to commit to the timeframe on an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.
“These are conversations that we will be having going forward for the rest of the year,” she said, referencing her role on the Basel Committee’s governing body.
People familiar with the global regulatory approach have previously acknowledged that the incoming standards could be contentious given the changes in market environment since they were agreed. A supervisor at one national regulator, who asked not to be named, said he did not know if his jurisdiction would implement the new rules when they take effect. Bowman told Bloomberg that the US authorities were taking a “different look” at crypto than the internationally-agreed approach.
“Inconsistent implementation will jeopardize the goal of establishing a minimum standard that enables a level playing field, mitigates cross-border risk spillovers and prevents market fragmentation,” the associations wrote in their letter.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
