The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has included growing cyber risks in the list of major threats to the country's financial stability within its 2025 financial stability review.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has included growing cyber risks in the list of major threats to the country's financial stability within its 2025 financial stability review.
According to the regulator's assessment, the accelerated digitalization of payment systems is accompanied by an increase in cyber incidents. Attacks, information security breaches, and data theft lead to increased operational losses for participants in the financial system and can undermine public trust in this system. The Central Bank views the loss of this trust as a primary channel of risk to financial stability.
Market participants share this concern. In a survey on systemic risks conducted among banks, cyberattacks were cited as one of the threats that could negatively affect the financial system of Uzbekistan. Other threats mentioned alongside cyberattacks include defaults by large borrowers, economic downturn, and climate risks.
Nevertheless, geopolitical factors (56% of responses), growing household debt burden (32%), and exchange rate volatility (31%) remain at the top of the threat ranking.
As a countermeasure, the Central Bank announced the implementation of an artificial intelligence-based monitoring system to track suspicious transactions and introduce restrictions on operations flagged as suspicious. The regulator expects participants in the financial system to continuously improve and maintain resilient information security systems.
A third aspect of the response measures focuses on increasing financial literacy. The Central Bank plans to intensify efforts to inform citizens about fraudulent schemes and cyberattacks, noting that a significant portion of citizen losses is related to social engineering methods rather than technical infrastructure failures.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated before the Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance that Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), such as cryptocurrencies, pose a threat to a developing economy like India and should not currently be granted legal recognition.
The central bank emphasized that these digital assets can be used to finance terrorism, drug smuggling, and other illicit activities. The RBI informed the committee that VDAs could create serious risks in a developing country like India.
The bank noted that there is a constant risk of financing terrorism, drug smuggling, and other illegal financial operations through cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, monitoring foreign (offshore) entities involved in crypto trading is extremely difficult. This creates significant problems for regulatory bodies, as effective control over such transactions becomes complex.
The discussion on 'Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and the Way Forward' took place during the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by MP Bhartrihari Mahtab of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Representatives from the RBI, as well as delegates from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), were present at the meeting.
After the meeting, Chairman Bhartrihari Mahtab told journalists that the RBI does not support granting legal status to virtual digital assets in India. He also clarified that the committee is considering provisions related to VDAs within the tax legislation. In turn, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) supported the creation of comprehensive VDA legislation. The Institute expressed its willingness to assist the government in developing a principle-based structure and necessary guidelines to make the rules clearer for investors and other stakeholders.
