Digital currency providers have a new set of rules to comply to if they want to do business in Estonia.
The country amended its Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act in January. The change will mean that virtual currency providers will be treated equally to financial institutions when the law comes into force on March 10, 2020.
Cryptocurrency providers then have until July 1 first to implement the rules.
To comply with the new regulations, they must revise their anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, appoint a dedicated compliance officer, have their management teams subject to a fit and proper test, be registered in Estonia and share capital of at least €12,000.
For the AML processes, cryptocurrency providers must determine whether their news business relationships are with people from outside the European Economic Area or e-resident and have to do their due diligence to identify those people.
For the assessment of the management team, the Financial Intelligence Unit will have to see proof of the company’s leadership’s level of education, work experience and character.
The providers must also be registered in the country and have their management board registered in Estonia.
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