The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has requested the integration of the European Union’s (EU) Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) into its national law to bring local crypto regulations under its provisions.
In order to provide protection against terrorist financing and money laundering, AMLD5 was introduced on 9 July 2018. The directive establishes a new legal framework to keep a check on crypto-related service providers and businesses.
Moreover, all EU members are required to integrate AMLD5 into their legal systems no later than 20 January 2020. AMLD5 requires the member states to enforce stricter transparency requirements related to anonymous payments. The directive aims at bringing wallet providers and crypto exchanges under regulations.
CySEC maintained that various fintech-related enquires were received by its CySEC Innovation Hub. Apparently, many of those enquires did not fall “within the existing regulatory framework”.
Therefore, the agency has suggested to integrate AMLD5 into the existing laws of the country. Moreover, it has requested to bring additional crypto-related activities under AML/CFT obligations. Some of these activities include participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a crypto asset, exchange between crypto assets and transfer of virtual assets.
The agency noted a suggestion to include the said activities due to its understanding of potential threats currently posed to the integrity of the market and investors.
In addition to Cyprus, Ireland’s cabinet also approved the integration of AMLD5 into the country’s law earlier this year.
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