On Monday, the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that a new draft regulation on digital currency exchange operations would be out this month, as the government seeks to limit the number of companies willing to offer virtual currency trading platforms in the country.
SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong said they hope to come out with final rules before the end of this year.
“We will put out a draft rule for the virtual currency exchanges hopefully within the first half of September,” – he said. – “Virtual currency exchanges (VCEs) have licenses similar to that of money changers. They can exchange from cryptocurrency to fiat currency. But many of the VCEs, all of the VCEs are applying to allow them to act as trading platforms. When the trading platforms come in, this is a concern of SEC that we will discuss with BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) we will have a joint cooperative oversight.”
The SEC commissioner also said his agency is in talks with BSP to create a joint cooperative oversight over the cryptocurrency exchanges.
In a circular, the BSP said VCEs are required to have security measures and safeguards to address the risks associated with digital currency exchanges, such as basic controls on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, consumer protection, and technology risk management.
Amatong said the proposed regulations on digital currency exchanges seek to promote investor protection while allowing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) an alternative means to raise capital.
