Leandro Vilain, director of Febraban, who should hire consultancy on digital real.
The Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) created a working group two months ago to discuss the digital real. “The idea is to understand the technologies, the effect of implementing the digital real on the banking system and how we have to prepare for it.” This is what Leandro Vilain, the institution’s executive director of innovation, said at a public hearing in the Senate.
“We are still at the very early stage. We are thinking of hiring an international consultancy to see how the banking system reacted to this initiative (in other countries)”. Vilain participated in the hearing on digital real this Wednesday (1).
According to the director of Febraban, as discussions on central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) take place in other countries, “at the end of the day, it is important for us to understand how regulatory, operational, technology and consumer behavior issues are being dealt with ”.
Febraban will map better use cases of the digital real
Vilain said studies point to more than 50 use cases for CBDC. These range, for example, from just digitizing the sovereign currency to using smart contracts, securing credit contracts and facilitating cross-border payments. The Central Bank appointed andthe latter as one of the potential gains with the digital real. However, “at this moment, we do not have at Febraban this mapping of all use cases and which are the most appropriate for the digital real”.
Responding to a question from senator Rodrigo Cunha (PSDB-AL) about financial scams, Vilain said that these are not linked to the technology used. In the case of cryptocurrencies, it’s a blockchain. “Pyramids have always happened inside and outside Brazil, inside or outside the system”. The sector, he said, is regulated by the BC. So if something happens outside the rules, it’s a crime.