After the successful completion of the public consultation process regarding the issue, trading and additional regulation of cryptocurrencies and digital tokens, the Securities Commission organized and held a round table further exploring the cryptoasset regulation issues. The round table was attended by representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Finance, Belgrade Stock Exchange, Foreign Investors Council, USAID and the representatives from the industry and law firms, and engineers who took part in the Commission's public consultation process.
The Securities Commission Chairman Marko Janković opened the round table and said that the goal was to place the Republic of Serbia on the world map as one of the countries which tackled the topic of cryptoassets. The participants agreed on the idea that instruments based on cryptoassets should be traded on the stock exchange. They further elaborated that a legal framework should be put in place which would allow the private sector to determine the direction and pace of development.
In this regard, the Belgrade Stock Exchange head Siniša Krneta underscored that the Stock Exchange fully supported the initiative and that they had already conducted discussions with the private sector about the prospective trading arrangements. He also added that such trading could facilitate access to finance for the Serbian economy.
The Supervision Officer Dušan Romčević pointed out that although the consultation process had been formally ended, the Commission would not reject any insights and suggestions coming from the private sector*. He highlighted that from the viewpoint of an investor, safety and trust mattered the most and that the Commission's goal was to protect investors not only from fraud, but from incompetent actors and non-professional practices as well.
The Foreign Investors Council lauded the Commission's initiative and efforts to organize an open discussion, and especially its demonstrated agility in recognizing and reacting to the newest global trends. The representative from the Foreign Investors Council proposed forming a multilateral team consisting of all the relevant stakeholders, and most importantly all the government authorities on the matter.
The USAID's full support to the initiative was commented on. Namely, the Agency works on a comprehensive analysis of the regulations (accounting to more than 50 pieces of legislation and legal enactments) concerning the cryptoassets. It is planned that the analysis should be completed by this fall and that it would be of great benefit to the formulation of the state policy in this regard.
It was concluded that fine-tuning of the system is of utmost importance. It would contribute to restoring trust in the financial market, and setting up an arrangement in which the parties would know their rights and obligations.
*Please send your feedback to the address office@sec.gov.rs and/or to Dušan Romčević directly to dusan.romcevic@sec.gov.rs.
