Japan’s financial regulator is set to introduce new Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
regulations to protect investors from fraud, local news outlet Jiji Press reported Dec. 1. According to “informed” sources cited by Jiji, business operators conducting ICOs will be required to register with Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). The agency is reportedly planning to submit bills revising financial instruments, exchanges and payment services laws to the ordinary parliamentary session that starts in January.
This action has been undertaken “in view of a number of possibly fraudulent ICO cases abroad” as a way “to limit individuals' investment in ICOs for better protecting them.” A study reported by Cointelegraph this July identified 80 percent of the ICOs conducted in 2017 as scams.
As Cointelegraph Japan reported last month, the FSA Study Group on Virtual Currency Exchange industry conducted its tenth meeting to discuss ICOs. The tokens emitted during ICOs where classified into three categories: virtual currencies without issuer, virtual currencies with issuer and tokens with issuers that are also obliged to distribute revenues. According to the report, the first and second token classifications are subject to settlement regulation such as the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The third of ICO tokens is subject to investment regulations like the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
Estonia: Amendments to Anti-Money-Laundering Regulations Will Tighten Crypto Regulation
The Estonian Ministry of Finance will shortly add amendments
to a recently-passed financial bill that are meant to “tighten” crypto-related regulation, Estonian financial newspaper Äripäev reports Nov. 28. According to the article, a new version of the Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act came into force this week in Estonia, conforming legislation to the EU’s so-called “Fourth Money Laundering Prevention Directive.”
The regulation introduced this week reportedly introduces “virtual currency exchange service providers” and “virtual currency payment service providers,” while before there only was “alternative means of payment service provider.” Still, the Financial Supervision Authority (FI) has since announced that cryptocurrencies and the companies offering crypto-related services introduce money laundering risks, which is reportedly the reason for the new amendments, according to Äripäev.
As Cointelegraph reported, Estonia has rolled back its plans to release Estcoin, a national digital currency, after the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi criticized the initiative. Canada is also looking towards more regulation to prevent crypto from being used for money laundering, as the Canadian House Finance Committee recommended during its review of the Proceeds of Crime Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) in mid-November.
Article Produced By
Adrian Zmudzinski
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-meet-december-in-green-bitcoin-trades-above-4-200
