Ekaterine Galdava Discusses the Development of Cross-Border Payments, Interoperability of Payment Systems, and Strengthening of Regional Cooperation at the Tbilisi Finance Summit

For compliance and payments executives, the emphasis on stablecoin-enabled international payments alongside traditional rails is the key signal: expect supervisory attention on how firms govern novel settlement assets, manage counterparty and liquidity risk, and evidence AML/CFT controls across corridors. Firms with Caucasus, Black Sea or Central Asian exposure should treat this as an early directional indicator rather than a rule change — no binding requirements were announced — but it is a timely prompt to review cross-border payment governance, correspondent relationships and digital asset risk appetites. Practical actions: map your payment corridors against emerging interoperability initiatives; confirm your stablecoin exposure and related controls are captured in risk frameworks; track NBG publications and any follow-on consultation or sandbox activity; and ensure regional regulatory engagement and information-sharing arrangements are documented.

Institutions positioning early on standards alignment and regulator dialogue may gain speed-to-market and licensing advantages as regional connectivity deepens. Priority: monitor and prepare, not remediate.