WFE's regulatory affairs head on the risks of unregulated crypto-trading platforms

The WFE released these recommendations earlier this week, which are:

1. Segregate market infrastructure functions within a CTP where appropriate such as limiting CTPs trading their own book or in potential conflict with their customers;
2. Operate orderly markets by having in place systems and controls for broader risks, such as abusive trading, to protect integrity of price formation;
3. Hold sufficient financial resources to meet expected operational stress events;
4. Facilitate compliance with best execution requirements;
5. Increase robustness of listing standards;
6. Have appropriate governance and management requirements.

Metcalfe told Finextra that they have been watching the cryptocurrency market and that “it became apparent to us early on that whilst crypto raised some interesting challenges, the thing that we just kept coming back to was suspicion.”

He elaborated: “A lot of participants in crypto might wrongly assume that all the checks and balances that exist when you would go and trade shares on a properly regulated market, or indeed pretty much any other established financial asset, would be in place. They might take for granted the sort of things that you would get in that predefined environment but they wouldn't necessarily be in place.”

The WFE published cryptocurrency research earlier this month which found that the risks that unregulated crypto-trading platforms bring are compounded by the fact that they frequently carry out further activities that would not be permitted, or would be closely regulated, in mainstream public markets. The second half of this research has not yet been published.

Metcalfe also pointed out that “a lot of individual financial centres were perhaps trying to work out how to position themselves