Germany advances crypto-friendly legislation to allow bearer bond registration on decentralized ledgers. According to the draft bill, Germany's Financial Supervisory Authority will oversee the issuance and the maintenance of "decentralized registers as new financial services" (translated from German).
Modernizing Germany:
- The bill distinguishes between a centralized electronic securities depository and the keeping of registers by distributed ledgers.
- The bill focuses on bearer bonds, more common in Germany than the U.S. Under current German civil law, issuing non-governmental bearer bonds requires a paper document with a wet ink signature.
- The bill aims to modernize German securities laws in order to strengthen the appeal of the country as a financial hub. Other countries already allow the electronic issuance of securities and regulate blockchain securities.
- In January, Germany introduced regulations for cryptocurrency custodians regarding new licensing requirements.