The Parliament adopted the Draft Organic Law on the National Bank of Georgia and the Draft law on Tax System and Tax Service for the II reading.

According to Paata Kvizhinadze, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and one of the authors of the amendments, the draft law introduces a number of important innovations. One of them concerns the regulation of virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) by the National Bank of Georgia.

He noted that similar legislation already exists in the United States and the European Union. In this regard, the establishment of a comprehensive regulatory framework in Georgia will contribute to increasing transparency in the sector and attracting major international players to the market, as the rules of operation will be clearly defined.

“Another innovation is the introduction of so-called smart routing, which means implementing the best European practices in the banking sector. Specifically, just as in Europe, it will become possible for consumers to receive universal services through a single terminal. Today, stores use multiple terminals from different banks to conduct financial operations. Now, there will be a single terminal with no direct link to any specific bank; it will identify bank cards and automatically select the cheapest, fastest, and most optimal method for processing the payment.

Another issue concerns ‘open banking’, under which a company supervised by the National Bank of Georgia will be able to create an application allowing users to access their accounts in different banks and receive various services through the same app. As a result, consumers will be able to manage and control their finances much more easily”, - he stated.