On 20 October 2021, the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre (Committee), led by Senator Andrew Bragg, released its highly anticipated final report into the regulatory future of Australia’s technology, finance and digital asset industries .
Based on more than 100 submissions, the report sets out 12 key recommendations, positioning Australia as a leading hub for digital currency related businesses by offering greater clarity on how digital assets and digital asset-adjacent services should be regulated. The report includes recommendations addressing cryptocurrency and digital asset regulation, decentralised autonomous organisations, Australia’s tax and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regimes in the digital asset context, issues relating to de-banking, the policy environment for Australian neboanks, and options to replace the Offshore Banking Unit.
The Committee’s report represents a significant moment in the future regulation of digital assets, with many of the recommendations being among the first of their kind globally to comprehensively address such matters at a legislative level. This article summarises the Committee’s 12 recommendations.
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