Nigeria to launch digital currency on Monday
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it will launch its eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) on Monday, October 24. The launch had been originally scheduled for October 1, but it was delayed in deference to other key activities lined up to commemorate the country’s 61st Independence Anniversary. However, Nigerians have been able to download the eNaira app from either the Google Play or Apple App stores since late September. The CBN also published a white paper that provides detail on the eNaira’s critical dimensions. [Read more]
Virtual Assets and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
The IMF published two papers aimed at assisting countries in their understanding and mitigation of the money laundering (ML), terror financing (TF), and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (PF) risks related to virtual assets (VAs). The first paper explains why VAs are vulnerable for misuse for ML/TF/PF purposes and clarifies which assets and service providers should be subject to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures. It discusses the measures that all countries should take, and the type of action necessary in instances of criminal misuse of VA. The second paper focuses on the AML/CFT regulatory and supervisory framework for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and discusses the necessary AML/CFT measures and provide examples of practical solutions to implement them. [Download the first paper here and the second here]
A Smart Solution to Advance Consumer-Centric Payments Innovation in America
This opinion piece suggests that the US Congress create a national “payments passport” by allowing money transmitters with at least 40 state licenses to obtain limited access to the payments system, provided they are subject to Federal Reserve regulatory standards and supervision tailored to payments services. State-based licensing and supervisory authority would remain in place, while the Federal Reserve would be empowered to ensure the safety, soundness, and integrity of its own payments system. This framework could also include tailored parent company oversight to protect safety and soundness and be limited to firms whose activities are predominantly financial in nature. And such payments companies would directly originate, clear, and settle payments, but lack access to broader Fed services. They would not be granted full banking powers, limiting the threat to community banks, while the preservation of state-based consumer protections would ease consumer advocates’ concerns. [Read more]
To get these updates sent to your inbox, please sign up here. Also, for those interested in intra-day updates and news that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, please check out my Diigo fintech bookmarks: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/Fintech.
