According to Unathi Kamlana (2017), “What we want to be able to do is intervene when we believe that items that clients may not understand are potentially highly dangerous.” That is definitely true, which is why we must ensure that our offerings are as clear as possible.
South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority commissioner, Unathi Kamlana, has allegedly stated that the government’s implementation of a crypto structure will be targeted at reducing any potential hazards.
Kamlana indicated in a Bloomberg story published on Friday that the financial regulator aims to build a regulatory framework in early 2022 to protect investors from “potentially highly harmful” crypto assets. The commissioner stated that any crypto framework would be developed in collaboration with the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority and Financial Surveillance Board.
“What we want to be able to do is intervene when we believe that what is being offered to potential clients are items that they don’t comprehend and are potentially very dangerous,” Kamlana explained. “We have to be careful not to simply legalize them.”
The FSCA commissioner’s comments come after the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group of South Africa said in June that it will be laying the framework for “phased and structured” cryptocurrency legislation in the country. The African country’s crypto policy has mostly been one of non-interference, with the public being warned that there is little protection or redress from the government in the event of scams or fraud.
When the co-founder of AfriCrypt, a South African crypto investment site, allegedly vanished with billions in customer cash, the FSCA declared it couldn’t intervene since crypto assets were unregulated in the country. Following the warning, Binance questioned the FSCA’s jurisdiction as South Africa’s financial regulator, claiming that the country’s Financial Intelligence Centre was in charge of ensuring that crypto businesses complied with local regulations.
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The South African Reserve Bank initiated an exploratory study in May to see if a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, could be implemented. The central bank is also participating in a pilot initiative to test international settlements utilizing CBDCs with counterparts in Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.
