red 
Qatar has published a public consultation on proposals to introduce a crypto framework for the Qatar Financial Center (QFC) that seeks to regulate investment tokens representing underlying assets specified as products under existing financial services regulations.
The proposed rules also prohibit activities in tokens that do not represent an underlying asset or are cryptocurrencies and alternatives such as stablecoins – in line with the authorities’ existing prohibitions.
The proposed framework aims to achieve the following goals:
- establish a tokenization framework in the QFC that will ensure legal certainty and a reliable technological environment for digital assets;
- legally recognize digital assets and address issues such as ownership of underlying assets, custody arrangements, transfer of ownership, trade and exchange of digital assets and smart contracts;
- develop a technological infrastructure with the necessary standards to ensure trust among consumers and the support of high-quality service providers; and
- develop a framework that provides security and promotes trust in digital assets, the marketplace and service providers.
The financial regulators of South Korea and Japan continue their regular meetings
On October 3, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) and South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) agreed resume regular “shuttle meetings”, as part of efforts to strengthen financial cooperation in order to preserve financial stability and stimulate the financial markets of both countries. The last such meeting was held in 2016.
During the meeting, it was agreed that the regulators will exchange experiences and views on issues of common interest, such as climate change and digitalization of financial services.
BIS presents a mapping project of cross-border transfers of cryptoassets and decentralized finance
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has issued a proof-of-concept report together with the central banks of the Netherlands and Germany on the creation of a data platform that could support the future regulation of crypto market players.
Project Atlas – as the data platform is called – combines on-chain data extracted from public blockchains and off-chain data collected from crypto exchanges for a layered approach to data verification and customized statistics for central banks.
The report details how the proof of concept uses Bitcoin transactions between crypto exchanges and the location of these exchanges as a proxy for cross-border capital flows. Attribution data links on-chain transactions to crypto exchanges, which are then mapped to their geographic location (where possible).
Initial analysis of preliminary data collected by the platform shows that cross-border flows are economically significant and unevenly distributed across geographic regions.
Hong Kong sets up task force to monitor cryptocurrency trading platforms
On 4 October, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced establishing a joint task force to closely monitor and investigate illegal activities involving virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs).
The result of a high-level meeting between the two agencies on 28 September, the task force comprises members of the HKPF’s Commercial Crime Bureau, Cyber Security and Technology Bureau, Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, as well as the SFC’s Law Enforcement Division and Department for mediators.
The goals of the working group are threefold. They aim to:
- facilitate the exchange of information on suspicious activities and violations of VATPs;
- implement a mechanism for assessing the risk of suspicious VATPs; and
- improve coordination and cooperation in related investigations.
The spokespersons pointed out that the new platform will be “instrumental for fast tracking […] vital intelligence sharing and joint cooperation in responding to challenges arising from VATPs” and allow both agencies to deploy their “appropriate expertise and resources to combat problematic VATPs”. The task force will also enable the city to “better protect the general public in Hong Kong and […] interest of investors”.
Crypto Regulation Regulators and Government EMEA
