Taiwanese legislators, led by Yung-Chang Chiang, have geared up to introduce the country’s premier cryptocurrency regulatory bill in November 2023. Speaking with the Block’s Timmy Shen, Chiang accentuated the need for a dedicated legal framework to oversee cryptocurrency trading and related activities. He emphasized the inherent dissimilarities between cryptocurrencies and typical financial investment services, signalling towards tailored and industry-specific directives.
Chiang also illustrated the impetus behind this initiative. His focus swivelled around the concern of Taiwan falling into the trap of “regulatory arbitrage”, particularly in the face of rising foreign crypto operations challenges. Advocating for a specialized law, he is certain it will serve towards safeguarding investors and bolstering their value in the long haul.
Despite the stringent timeframe, Chiang has actively aimed to achieve his objective. Discussions with industry gurus and service providers during an October 6 public hearing have been an integral part of tailoring the upcoming bill. His attention was particularly directed towards proposed stipulations by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) concerning interaction protocols with cryptocurrencies.
The FSC, in a September 26 official statement, specified that all native crypto trading platforms should segregate customers’ funds from the exchange’s operating capital. This implies that exchanges must maintain clients’ digital assets in independent accounts to circumvent fraud. Additionally, they are tasked with reviewing the listing and delisting norms for virtual assets and ensuring stakeholders and government agencies have unhindered access to the necessary information.
Despite FSC’s progressive strides, Chiang asserts that the current stance lacks legal binding power. In his opinion, the lack of an operational permit approval translates to a void in the regulatory system. The proposed crypto-special law, he believes, can fill this gap post its submission to the legislature by November 2023. Therefore, any unlicensed crypto exchanges in Taiwan would have to halt operations until obtaining the requisite approval.
Taking a proactive stance, nine crypto exchanges, including MaiCoin, BitoGroup, and ACE are forging ahead to form a crypto industry association to forward the interest of the burgeoning sector. They aim to officially register by mid-October.
In Chiang’s words, “In this case, under the authority of this special law, regulatory authorities can impose administrative penalties on operators who violate these self-regulation rules. Without such a special law, regulators would lack the ability to impose penalties.”
Source: Cryptonews
