| Along
with US Bank Reg Split Inner City Press
Asks IMF Spox of Cambodia and Zambia
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Substack
NYC Oct 1 – After
the failure of Silicon Valley
Bank and Signature Bank in
USA, the International
Monetary Fund warned of more
trouble, just as NYCB
teetered. Inner City Press on
March 7, 2024 asked the IMF
about it, video here.
On Oct 1,
Inner City Press asked the IMF
Spokesperson about, among
other things, the split in US
bank regulators about merger
review (the FDIC wants to
further expedite merger
reviews unlike the Federal
Reserve, which recently lost a
FOIA case but now seeks to
vacate it) & Zambia. Video
here,
transcript here
Inner City
Press also asked about
Cambodia and Ghana/crypto.
On Ghana, now a
written answer from a IMF
Spokesperson:
Q: On Ghana and
crypto, how does the IMF think
the 2025 Virtual Asset Service
Providers Act should be
extended and applied to
trading, brokerage, and
lending?
A: The VASP
framework in Ghana should
strive to comprehensively
cover virtual-asset trading,
brokerage, and lending
activities, while preserving
the authorities' ability to
impose enhanced prudential
requirements or restrictions
where warranted by financial
stability, monetary
sovereignty, consumer
protection, or AML/CFT
concerns. Particular attention
should be given to crypto
lending arrangements,
stablecoin activities, and
cross-border service
providers.
On Cambodia, a
written answer from an IMF
spokesperson:
Inner City Press
Q: On Cambodia, please
summarize the type of vetting
the IMF is encouraging the
country to establish for
owners of casinos. Does the
IMF believe that 100 licensed
casinos in the country is too
many?
IMF: Broadly
speaking, the IMF advocates a
comprehensive
ownership-transparency,
integrity, and an effective
way of screening a legitimate
source of funds designed to
mitigate money laundering
risks. We underscore the
importance of strengthening
risk-based AML/CFT supervision
of financial institutions,
including banks, payment
institutions, and casinos, and
the need for guidance to these
institutions on managing their
risks. That said, we do not
comment on the appropriate
number of casinos in a given
country. More detail
recommendations can be found
in the staff report which was
published just this week,
following the completion of
the 2026 Article IV
consultation.
On Zambia, there
will be more after the current
mission. And on US bank
regulation, Spokesperson
Kozack kindly asked to wait
for the GFSR and Western
Hemisphere press conferences
at the Annual Meeting in
Bangkok. Watch this site.
Back in July
Spokesperson Kozack said
Malawi talks were continuing,
including by the new Africa
Divison Director Zeina Zeidane
in a meeting in Banjul, the
Gambia on July 8. Video of
Q&A on IMF's website.
[In a
written answer an IMF
Spokesperson answered another
Inner City Press question with
this: "The GENIUS Act (passed
in July 2025) and CLARITY Act,
which has passed the House and
is awaiting a Senate vote, in
the US provides a foundation
for blockchain-based
innovation while potentially
safeguarding consumer
protection and market
integrity. It will be
important to monitor carefully
the ongoing rulemaking and the
impact of the legislation on
the global role of the US
dollar and potential
spillovers to other
jurisdictions."]
Back on
April 14, 2026, Inner City
Press at the IMF's Spring
Meetings asked Tobias Adrian
about Anthropic's Mythos and
the danger posed - what
guidance if any does the IMF,
which has had so many opinions
on crypto at least to El
Salvador, have on this one?
Adrian
said the IMF has been working
on this for some time.
On June 4, Inner
City Press at the IMF's
biweekly press briefing citing
Tobias Andrian's answer asked
out developments since the
Spring Meeting, including a
bill pending in Congress, the
Executive Order, and more. The
spokesperson referred Inner
City Press to Adrian's new
blog, here.
We'll have more on this.
***
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