Colombian Government Invites Companies to Test its Crypto Transaction Framework

On September 22nd, the government of Colombia approved a pilot program that invites companies to test cryptocurrency transactions until December 31st within the regulatory sandbox that was cleared by the financial watchdog of the country. The head of the country’s SFC (Financial Superintendence), Jorge Castaño spoke during a panel that was called ‘Overview of the Regulation of Crypto Assets in Colombia’. He disclosed that companies that wanted to test cryptocurrency transactions should apply for it by the year-end because the trial would run in year 2021. 

The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit approved the new regulatory sandbox on September 14th. Talking about the sandbox, the SFC said that it would enable them to maintain a balance proper regulation developed for comprehensively supervising the entities that are being surveilled and preventing any crisis situations, along with any illegal financial activities. All the while, they would also be able to support new technological developments that are applicable to financial services. Mauricio Toro was the panel’s host. 

He is a local congressman and also authored the bill that’s aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry in Colombia. Toro was informed by Castaño that there will be five stages of the pilot program, which are:

1. Application 
2. Selection 
3. Structuring 
4. Monitoring 
5. Feedback 

The pilot program will run next year, but no exact timetable has been established for it. However, the head of the SFC said that four financial services provider in Colombia had already expressed their interest in participating in the trial. 

 A draft bill for regulating cryptocurrency exchange platforms in Colombia had come to light on April 4th, 2019. The purpose of this law was to set some guidelines about how companies providing crypto exchange services in the country would operate. Bureaucratic issues delayed the debate about the bill’s approval, but the launch of this pilot plan could speed things up.