In this whitepaper, Atty. Rafael Padilla, Co-Founder and Trustee of BlockDevs Asia and Professor of Law at San Beda Alabang, examines the updated guidelines for virtual asset service providers released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
A key highlight for 2020 is the vigilance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in issuing advisories and cease and desist order, and in taking other enforcement actions against cryptocurrency-related investment scams, Forsage being the largest and most high-profile among them.
Rafael proposes that bitcoin, a new asset class, should be considered as a strategic reserve asset that can function as systemic hedge that will help maintain financial stability amid the economic havoc that is COVID-19 Pandemic, and to insulate the domestic financial system from the vulnerabilities of the current U.S. dollar-centric international monetary system.
While the use of stablecoins could implicate several aspects of the law, three areas attained some level of prominence within legal and policy circles: securities regulation, anti-money laundering (AML), and financial service licensing.
In a paper published by Atty. Rafael Padilla, Co-Founder and Trustee of BlockDevs Asia and Professor of Law at San Beda Alabang, the application of blockchain and smart contracts in finance gives financial regulators no choice but to revisit existing rules and, at the same time, assess their relevance in the world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and open finance.
By Atty. Rafael Padilla: For the legal nerds, this year’s centerpiece is R.A. 11453, the Amended AFAB Charter. This new law which was enacted by Congress last August 2019 quietly introduced the term “cryptocurrency” for the first time in the Philippine legal system.
The Commission encourages the public to submit comments and position papers regarding the draft rules so that it can be improved to better serve the public and every party involved.
