Ireland Central Bank: Blockchain Has Challenges

Blockchain, FinTech, Group, Regulation | July 27, 2017 By:

The head of Ireland’s central bank said blockchain and other new technologies present “issues” that pose a major challenge.

Philip Lane, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, has established an internal working group on financial technology to address those concerns. Lane raised the issues during a speech to the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland, Dublin, who held a meeting in late May.

“Novel innovations in the markets sector, such as distributed ledger and crypto currencies, may present the largest policy challenges given their complexity and novelty,” Lane said. “Finally, we note that many FinTech start-ups will have limited regulatory expertise and this may present policy challenges in communicating the scope and requirements of the authorisation regime and the role of the Central Bank.”

The Bank of Ireland is testing a blockchain-based trade reporting prototype in conjunction with Deloitte’s Ireland division.