The central bank wants to ensure that a potential central-bank digital currency wouldn’t enable crimes like money laundering and terrorist financing, Timothy Lane said at a panel hosted by the Financial Times. It’s been exploring whether to issue one for years. (The Logic)

Talking point: “A CBDC could not be designed in a way that it would be not just a haven for those activities, but in fact, an unlimited and fully scalable resource for criminality,” Lane said. The comments come as the Bank of Canada’s digital-currency initiative has moved from a research stage to a design phase for eventually issuing one, although it has not yet decided whether to do so. Questions around how to oversee the flow of money through digital platforms have become more of a priority for officials since protests in Ottawa earlier this year prompted new regulations.