Crypto Traders Should Be Covered by MiFID II, EU Lawmaker Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin, Ethereum and other virtual currencies should face tougher European Union regulation and be covered under MiFID II rules, according to one of the bloc’s top lawmakers.

 Such a move would help set common standards across the 28-member bloc and help the EU lead global oversight efforts of the rapidly expanding industry, Markus Ferber, the lead lawmaker on MiFID II in the European Parliament, said by email on Tuesday.

 “If virtual currencies were classified as financial instruments in line with MiFID II, that would automatically create a certain minimum level of protection for investors,” including rules against market abuse, Ferber said.

 The European Commission will start “regulatory mapping” to determine how virtual currencies fit into the existing rules, Valdis Dombrovskis, financial-services policy chief for the EU’s executive arm, told Bloomberg last week. The revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II, could be right for some of them, he said.

 Earlier this year, Ferber pressed the European Securities and Markets Authority, which coordinates standards across the bloc, to provide guidance about the EU’s oversight of the industry.

 A concerted approach will show that the EU is ready to lead the way in international efforts to regulate the currencies, he said.