India Sends Crypto Researchers To Meet Regulators In Switzerland, UK, Japan

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reportedly sent a group of researchers to the UK, Switzerland, and Japan to study their local initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency trading markets. SEBI’s representatives reportedly met with financial regulators from all three countries.

Gaining A “Deeper Understanding”

India’s securities regulator has been planning to develop a better understanding of crypto-related technologies and their inner workings, in order to learn how to properly monitor the country’s crypto economy.

As noted its annual report, the:

“SEBI on a regular basis enables study tour of SEBI officials to overseas authorities. These study tours help engage with the international regulators and gain [a]deeper understanding of the systems and mechanisms.”

Moreover, India’s financial regulator explained that it had previously sent researchers to different countries so they could learn how authorities in other jurisdictions regulate new, or emerging, financial technologies or services.

“Learning A Lot” From Other Regulators

The SEBI mentioned that this practice has been quite beneficial as it has learned “a lot from these experiences and the knowledge transfer helps improve the processes within SEBI.” In its 2017-2018 annual report, India’s financial regulator noted that its representatives would be meeting with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA), the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).

As CryptoGlobe reported on August 31st, the reserve bank of India (RBI) has been following a similar process as it is working on determining the “feasibility” and “desirability” of an Indian Rupee (INR) backed central bank digital currency (CBDC). RBI’s annual report also acknowledges the benefits of learning how the central banks of other countries are working on creating their own CBDC, and how they are responding to their respective cryptocurrency markets.

Restricting India’s Crypto Economy

Although the RBI confirmed its stance against offering banking services to crypto-related businesses and individual digital currency traders, which was supported by India’s Supreme Court in early July, it did note in its annual report that it will be “keeping a close watch on cryptocurrency.”

While Indian authorities have attempted to restrict the activities of local crypto investors, Subhash Chandra Garg, India’s Secretary of Economic Affairs, revealed that the nation’s government was working on drafting cryptocurrency regulations.

Garg said that the Indian government had planned to propose certain regulations for cryptos in July, however, it has now been confirmed that they will likely not be ready anytime soon. At present, India’s Supreme Court will reportedly be reviewing petitions filed by locals against RBI’s crypto ban starting September 11th.