Bahamas to regulate banks to offer cbank digital currency
Refiles to fix typo in para 3
Bahamas launched world's first digital fiat currency in 2020
Central Bank preparing to force banks to provide access to it
Regulations expected to be in place within two years
By Elizabeth Howcroft and Marc Jones
LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) -The Bahamas, the first country in the world to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), is now preparing regulations that will require commercial banks to provide access to the e-money in a bid to stimulate adoption, its central bank governor told Reuters.
The Bahamas' role as a CBDC pioneer - it issued its "Sand Dollar" digital currency in 2020 - means that what it does in the Caribbean is closely watched by the more than 130 countries, from Europe to China, that are now exploring digital versions of their currencies.
John Rolle, the islands' central bank governor, who oversaw the Sand Dollar's launch nearly four years ago, said with take-up still limited, carrot was turning into stick and commercial banks were now being told of regulations that will effectively force them to distribute it.
"We've begun to signal that to our institutions," Rolle told Reuters during a trip to London, saying that rules should be in place within two years.
"We foresee a process where all of the commercial banks will eventually be in that space and they will be required to provide their clients with access to the central bank digital currency."
CBDCs have proven a point of contention between central and commercial banks, with banking lobby groups warning that the currencies could encourage deposit flight because they effectively offer the public a central bank bank account.
The European Central Bank has signalled it will make it mandatory for euro zone retailers and banks to accept and distribute a future digital euro if it goes ahead, but that is still years away, meaning the Bahamas would be first once again.
CBDCs come in two forms, either in the Sand Dollar's 'retail' mould where the public can use it, or as a 'wholesale' version used only by financial institutions.
Ordering banks to make the Sand Dollar available would require them to make significant changes to their IT systems, but the Bahamas central bank sees it as vital to boost the CBDC's adoption and mobile payments more generally.
The Sand Dollar currently accounts for less than 1% of currency in circulation in the Bahamas, while wallet top-ups fell to $12 million in the eight months to August last year, compared to $49.8 million in the same period the year before, central bank data shows.
Other countries such as Nigeria and Jamaica that have also launched CBDCs are also seeing minimal usage.
Part of the problem, CBDC watchers say, is that they don't yet offer any obvious advantages over existing payment methods, while public concerns remain in some countries that they could pave the way for more government snooping.
Rolle said requiring commercial banks to embed the Sand Dollar in their systems should help usage but acknowledged the bigger prize was to get more shops, restaurants and other businesses to accept it as a form of payment.
The Bahamas is unlikely to offer financial incentives to use its CBDC, as India has during trials for an e-rupee, Rolle said. Nor will it offer an interest rate on Sand Dollars wallets, something Israel has floated.
Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and Marc Jones; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Susan Fenton
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.
