The Government says it is pleased to confirm that a working group established to deliver the 10th Core Principle of the jurisdiction’s bespoke Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) regulatory framework convened in late 2020 and is on track for a prompt delivery.

The working group behind the Gibraltar Market Integrity Study will be primarily responsible for defining the appropriate market standards for exchanges operating in the digital asset space. The DLT framework currently includes nine principles that apply to DLT businesses operating in Gibraltar. This follows a number of important updates to the jurisdiction’s bespoke regulatory framework <www.fsc.gi/dlt> in 2020.

The Minister for Digital and Financial Services, Albert Isola, said, “The creation of the Market Integrity working group is an important step for us as we continue to develop our DLT framework in line with an ever evolving regulatory landscape. Gibraltar has long been a leader when it comes to fostering innovation and in the development of VASP regulatory standards and we are confident the 10th Core Principle will aid us even further in our mission to achieve this, particularly as the integrity of these markets is such a key focus internationally. I am grateful to the members of the working group for their contribution and delighted to have such an excellent team of international specialists working with us”.

The purpose of the working group is to define global market integrity standards for exchanges and other marketplace platforms in the space, while taking into account the recently defined standards by the UK, EU, and other international bodies. Similarly, the framework aims to guide those who have the potential to form important foundational concepts for the work of other international organisations such as the Financial Action Task Force, the European Commission, and IOSCO.

The working group will aim to apply these principles to marketplaces that operate on a peer-to- peer basis. The group will seek to apply standards from traditional marketplaces while recognising the distinction between legacy methods and transactions, and digital asset trading through automated modern platforms. The working group will also consider whether the nature of the asset or item traded makes a difference to the market integrity standards.

The group consists of leaders in the blockchain and emerging technology space, including: Lee Schneider - General Counsel at Block.one

Emma Channing - General Counsel, Satis Group LLC; Former Representative of Consensys Digital Securities

Joshua Klayman - Global Tech Sector Co-Leader, U.S. Head of FinTech and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Senior Counsel, Linklaters LLP

Sunavna Tuteja - Head of Digital Assets, TD Ameritrade

Roman Beck - Head of European Blockchain Center (University of Copenhagen)

Jannah Patchay - Regulatory and Market Structure Advisor, Markets Evolution; Director of London Blockchain Foundation

Joey Garcia - ISOLAS LLP, Gibraltar; Regulation & Policy advisor to Xapo group, Diem Association representative, IOV Labs (RSK)

Tongtong Gong - Cofounder of Amberdata

Pawel Kuskowski - Coinfirm Founder

Nicholas Philpott - Banking Market Structure expert.