Crypto Policies, AI Remain Key Topics of Focus for G20’s 2024 Agenda Under Brazil: FSB

Brazil took the reins of the G20 presidency from India in December 2023 and will continue to preside over the organisation until November this year. Crypto-related policy formulation, asset tokenisation, and responsible handling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to remain key focus points for discussions this year. The details have been disclosed by global fintech watchdog, the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Prior to this, the FSB contributed to the crypto policy research work that India initiated under its G20 presidency last year.  

Klaas Knot, the chairperson of the FSB, has written a letter to the G20 group, detailing the key issues to look at in 2024. This letter was circulated to the G20 nations ahead of the meetings of the group scheduled for February 28 and 29 at São Paulo, Brazil.  

“The FSB will continue to coordinate international work through the G20 Roadmap on crypto assets. To address growing financial stability risks from cyber incidents, the FSB is also designing a format for incident reporting exchange (FIRE) for public consultation,” the letter said. Subsequently, the topic of enhancing ways to process cross-border payments is also among important ones.  

The letter has outlined certain challenges facing the global fintech sector that need attention on priority. The letter sent by the FSB to the G20 nations says, “debt service challenges could increase, and exposures to sectors facing existing headwinds, like commercial real estate, bear close monitoring. Abrupt shifts in market pricing could expose vulnerabilities in the financial system, including those related to leverage and liquidity mismatch in NBFI.”

Throughout 2023, the FSB had joined in India's vision of establishing a global policy framework to oversee the crypto sector. After receiving feedback from stakeholders and the public, the organisation outlined some pointers for crypto regulations which included supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements (GSCs) and support for responsible innovation while leaving a margin for jurisdictions to implement domestic approaches.

As per the FSB, the vulnerabilities that are riddling the crypto sector resemble those prevalent in the traditional financial practices related to leverage, liquidity mismatches, technological as well as operational.  

Despite finalising a crypto roadmap for G20 nations to adopt for crypto monitoring, the FSB firmly believes that more clarity in legalities must be introduced to keep sensitive sectors like crypto and AI safe for usage.  

“Further work may be needed to enhance cross-border cooperation and information sharing and to address information gaps identified,” the organisation had said in November 2023.