In a move to strengthen Sri Lanka’s regulatory approach to virtual assets, the Ministry of Digital Economy, together with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), convened a high‑level awareness forum on Monday (15) under the theme “Collaborating for a Secure Digital Future: Virtual Assets.” Presided over by Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eranga Weeraratne, the session brought senior policymakers, regulators, and industry experts together to examine global precedents, domestic market realities, and risk‑management strategies aimed at shaping a secure and compliant digital financial ecosystem. During the forum, distinguished industry experts Nisal Chandrasekara and Dinindu Thewarathanthri served as resource persons, delivering comprehensive insights across three core strategic areas: The Sri Lankan Market Reality: Evaluating the domestic operational landscape of peer-to-peer (P2P) channels and offshore trading platforms, alongside a rigorous assessment of the economic and structural risks inherent to entirely unregulated financial environments. Global Precedents: Analyzing successful regulatory frameworks and adaptational strategic pathways implemented by established regional hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Malaysia, to identify practical models suitable for Sri Lanka. Risk Management & Compliance: Focusing on essential security and compliance protocols, including advanced transaction monitoring, stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls, and the integration of blockchain traceability tools. Furthermore, the session provided participants with a foundational understanding of how virtual assets are created, traded, stored, and utilized across modern economic sectors. This included brief overviews of primary use cases such as specialized investment products (including Exchange-Traded Funds [ETFs] and self-custody holdings), efficient cross-border payments and remittances, the tokenization of real-world assets, and capital formation for emerging startups through strategic token issuance. (Newswire) The post Digital Economy Ministry, SEC host awareness forum on regulating virtual assets appeared first on Newswire.
