Banking Heavyweights Oppose Basel’s Proposed Rules on Crypto Capital Requirements

A forum of some of the largest U.S. and European banks has urged modifications to the rules proposed by the world’s central banks and regulators for capital requirements on bitcoin exposure.

• The Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), made up of such institutions as JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank as well as several other industry associations, in a Sept. 20 letter opposed the rules set out in June by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
• The Basel Committee, which is a group within the Bank for International Settlements made up of global regulators and central bankers, suggested that banks with bitcoin exposure should set aside capital to cover losses in full.
• The GFMA said that such a weighting was unnecessary.
• “We find the proposals in the consultation to be so overly conservative and simplistic that they, in effect, would preclude bank involvement in crypto asset markets,” the GFMA wrote in the letter to the Committee.

Read more: JPMorgan Launches In-House Bitcoin Fund for Private Bank Clients