In an advance report, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius revealed plans to gather valuable inputs from key industrial players on the significance of incorporating the metaverse in the financial sector. With the rapid growth of the financial sector, the FSC noted the endless economic opportunities in the metaverse ecosystem.
Factors Contributing to High Adoption of Metaverse
However, guided by the rule-making process in the island country, the FSC plans to consult the public on the importance of the metaverse in the Mauritius economy. The financial regulator has agreed to host a public consultation on metaverse in November.
The proposed public consultation will involve gathering significant input from the Mauritians concerning the benefits and shortcomings of the metaverse. With the convergence of the traditional financial market to decentralized finance (DeFi), the metaverse sector has seen massive adoption across the globe.
The exciting development of the metaverse sector has motivated the Mauritius authority to prepare to include the technology in the financial industry. Firstly, before adopting the metaverse sector, the Mauritius government seeks to create a friendly environment for the metaverse to thrive.
Benefits of Metaverse Technology
Reflecting on the strategic actions taken by the UK, China, South Korea, Dubai, and Indonesia to amplify the metaverse activities in the region, the FSC plans to explore ways that Mauritius will seamlessly tap the emerging technologies. This will be attained by increasing the use case of metaverse in businesses.
The FSC recognized the exemplary efforts made by the metaverse-centric states. The financial regulators anticipate that Mauritius will join other countries in spearheading the adoption of the metaverse sector.
The report underlined that metaverse will support attaining the customer’s protection values in future. Based on the nature of the metaverse ecosystem, the FSC believes that adopting this technology will support the empowerment of the community.
The need to be part of the metaverse community has challenged the FSC to engage the public in making informed decisions concerning this technology. The commission has formulated seven questions to evaluate the significance of the metaverse in Mauritius.
The public has been urged to provide significant input before November 30. After gathering the public comments, the FSC plans, in collaboration with other regulatory agencies, to assess the consultation report.
Mauritius Priming for CBDC Pilot Trials
The public comments will guide the FSC and the Mauritius government to formulate policies that blend well with the needs of the metaverse ecosystem. Also, the commission plans to establish a well-functioning multidisciplinary group to oversee the operation of a metaverse in the country.
Besides the public consultation process, the Mauritius government plans to commence pilot trials for the digital rupee this month. Even though the island country’s apex bank has not specified when the pilot program will start, the bank has been preparing to launch the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
In an earlier announcement, Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, in his appointment as the governor of the Bank of Mauritius, confessed that developing the digital rupee will be a top priority immediately after he enters office.
Mr.Seegolam provided a detailed report of the benefits of the digital rupee to the Mauritius economy. In his address, the governor underlined that the CBDC implementation will support the government in addressing anti-money laundering (AML) and combat financial terrorism concerns.
He added the CBDC will shield the country’s monetary policy from eroding. The pro-crypto governor hinted that the Bank of Mauritius was still contemplating the right time to start the CBDC pilot trials in Q4 of 2023.
