Brazil and Italy analyze international payment management rules

On Thursday (Dec. 7), Roberto Campos Neto, the head of the Central Bank of Brazil, announced the agency's commitment to establishing regulations for international payments during Brazil's presidency of the G20, a coalition of the world's 20 largest economies. Campos Neto highlighted that governance represents the final significant challenge to be addressed for the successful interconnection of systems, noting that technological and settlement issues have already been resolved.

"One of the things we want to do at the G20, a topic I proposed, is to create a taxonomy [minimum rules] for international payments. I'm collaborating with the head of the Central Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, to design a set of rules that will be applied. Since we've addressed the issues of technology and settlement, the focus will be on the governance of international payments. Countries that wish to participate will need to adhere to these rules more or less," he explained.

Campos Neto pointed out the diversity in legislation, taxation, and regulatory systems across countries. He emphasized, "This task will commence within the G20 group, in collaboration with the G7 and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). I believe significant progress can be achieved on this issue."

Brazil's G20 presidency, inaugurated on December 1, spans a year, concluding on November 30, 2024. This historic tenure marks the country's first leadership position within the current format of the group. Within the G20, the Central Bank operates within the finance track, addressing macroeconomic and financing matters. The parallel track, politics, encompasses broader discussions on public policies.

Throughout its term, Brazil anticipates coordinating over 100 official meetings in diverse cities nationwide, encompassing around 20 ministerial meetings, 50 high-level meetings, and side events. The pinnacle of these gatherings will be the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled for November 18 and 19, 2024, in Rio de Janeiro.

The head of the Central Bank addressed the digital future of the National Financial System during the Drex 2023 Annual Meeting.

Campos Neto highlighted that for the internationalization of the Brazilian currency, alongside the modernization of exchange regulations approved by the National Congress in 2021 and effective since January, the Central Bank introduced the Drex—a digital representation of the real.

According to Campos Neto, the economic transformation entails the integration of digital currencies and the tokenization of assets for trading, a process involving the extraction of value from assets in digital form.

In Brazil, he emphasizes, this agenda is structured around four key pillars: PIX, the Central Bank's instant payment system; the internationalization of the currency; Open Finance, involving the sharing of financial data; and Drex. Campos Neto noted that all these components are currently in a phase of development and evolution.