European banking regulator sees ‘major concern’ in keeping staff to handle crypto: Report

by · July 27, 2022

The chairman of the European Banking Authority, or EBA, an EU agency that regulates banking, has reportedly expressed concern that a lack of talent with experience in the crypto space could harm their ability to monitor the market.

According to a Wednesday report by the Financial Times, EBA head José Manuel Campa said that hiring and retaining staff with knowledge of cryptocurrencies was a “major concern”, given the growing demand for experts in the public and private sectors. Campa suggested that many industry experts could be more attracted to positions that pay higher salaries than those at the EBA, which are comparable to public sector jobs at the European Commission.

In addition, the chairman suggested that the EBA may be unprepared to exercise its authority over token offerings and other digital asset products, with many regulators often unable to keep up with a “very dynamic” crypto space.

“I don’t know exactly what I will be confronted with in two years,” Campa said, according to the report. In 2025, he added, “[crypto may have] moved and transformed into other uses that I cannot foresee.”

“My concern is more about securing the risks we have identified […] is properly administered. If we don’t do as well as we should, we have to live with the consequences.”

Under the EU’s proposed Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, law, the EBA will oversee “significant” tokens used as means of payment and popular tokens linked to traditional assets. The legislation aims to harmonize crypto regulations among the EU’s 27 member states, including giving the EBA and the European Securities and Market Authority the authority to ban or restrict the offering of virtual asset service providers, as well as over the marketing, distribution or sale of tokens in certain cases.

Related: Experts weigh in on the EU’s MiCa crypto regulation

Many global regulators announced the hiring or appointment of staff with experience in the crypto space, after some private sector firms cut staff amid a bear market. In June, Cointelegraph reported that the United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, planned to “bulk up” its ability to oversee crypto by offering to hire employees terminated from exchanges.