Norway’s financial regulator provides details on registration procedure for virtual currency businesses
Under the new AML rules, virtual currency exchange providers will have to register with the Financial Supervisory Authority.
Norway’s Financial Supervisory Authority has earlier today updated its guidance to virtual currency businesses regarding the implementation of the new anti-money laundering rules. As FinanceFeeds has reported earlier, the new rules will apply to virtual currency exchange businesses too. One of the consequences of this is that they will have to register with the Authority.
In today’s update, the regulator provided more information about the registration procedure. Virtual currency businesses will need to send a request for registration to Finanstilsynet at [email protected]. Another option is to use an online form KRT-1060.
There will be a transitional period, with the registration deadline being January 15, 2019.
Any applicant must provide basic information, such as its name, business number and address, as well as description of the services provided by the business. The applicants will also have to provide information (name, birthplace, etc) of their managers and board members. The regulator also requires information about a company’s AML policies.
If the information included in the registration request is incomplete, the regulator will not register the business.
The Ministry of Finance has established new money laundering regulations that come into force on October 15, 2018. The new regulations will cover Norwegian providers of virtual currency exchange and storage services. Let’s note that the law applies to companies established in Norway, as well as to Norwegian branches of foreign companies. The new rules also cover service providers that currently operate without being registered.
The regulator notes that it will make sure that virtual currency exchange providers comply with the new AML rules and that they are registered. However, the Authority will not be monitoring other aspects of the activities of these companies, such as investor protection.
Regarding compliance with the new AML rules, this implies the customers answering to questions about the purpose of a transaction and/or the origin of funds. Service providers will have to report suspicious transactions to the regulator.
