Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) “saw” the potential in cryptocurrencies and plans to study them in more detail in connection with the interest of clients in digital assets.
This was announced by CBA Managing Director Matt Comyn in a speech to Australia’s Standing Committee on Economic Development. According to him, now the bank is not particularly willing to serve cryptocurrency exchanges and firms working with digital assets, due to the many risks associated with this industry.
Comin believes that cryptoassets represent a vast, fascinating yet complex space, so the bank plans to study its specifics better. The CBA’s Managing Director’s clarifications came after the Australian Senate Special Committee received complaints from cryptocurrency firms about repeated denials of service by banks.
According to Comin, the blockchain provides transparency of transactions, but at the same time, incoming and outgoing transactions with cryptocurrencies must be well controlled. Regulatory gaps will lead to inconsistencies in compliance with the KYC procedure, which all banks are required to comply with. Comin fears that converting regular money into cryptocurrencies could be used to avoid reporting international transactions.
Despite this, the attitude of the CBA management towards cryptocurrencies is becoming more favorable, as the bank’s clients show great interest in them. However, Comin noted that there are still firms with different business models in the cryptocurrency market that do not fit into the standards of the banking sector. The CBA denies services to these firms because they cannot fully disclose the specifics of their work.
“To open a bank account, you need to understand not only the needs of the client, but also pay attention to what the true goals of his business are. There are many examples where clients have told us that they are doing one thing, but in reality they are doing a completely different thing, including working with cryptocurrencies. In such cases, we are forced to terminate cooperation with them, ”Komin said.
He added that the CBA regularly discusses the growing interest in cryptocurrencies with the Australian Center for Accounting and Analysis of Financial Transactions (AUSTRAC). Given the rapid spread of cryptocurrencies around the world, they require closer scrutiny from large financial institutions and government agencies.
“We concluded that cryptocurrencies are a high-risk area, but we can manage these risks using the tools and technologies available,” Comin said.
It is not only Australian banks that refuse to service the accounts of cryptocurrency firms and traders. At the beginning of the year, it became known that HSBC does not process payments using cryptocurrencies and does not allow customers to cash out cryptoassets.
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