Did You Know About Finland’s Upcoming Crypto Regulations?

The North European country of Finland, is finalising their plans to enforce its regulation for the cryptocurrency industry which the nation’s parliament approved on March 13. In a press release by the Finland Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), on 26th April, the new regulators revealed what to be expected as the new rules go live on May 1.

It is in this context that mention must be made of the fact that the new regulations which Finland is rolling out for the crypto industry corresponds with the European Union (EU)’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, which has already been introduced in France and the Netherlands.

Under these new rules, the Finland Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) will become the regulatory boarding supervising the activity of crypto-related businesses in the country. Crypto businesses including but not limited to exchanges, wallet providers and cryptocurrency issuers must register with FIN-FSA if they are to operate in the country.

Among other things, projects must fulfil criteria like safe custody solution for client assets, segregation of company funds from investor funds and AML compliance before they can obtain a license from FIN-FSA. Failing to comply with the regulator’s directive will result in the business having to pay a fine or cease operations before November 2019 when enforcement actions will commence.

Aside from the enactment of these new rules, FIN-FSA has also made a bold move of inviting crypto industry participants to attend an event which will help them in getting to know more of what is expected of them. According to the release, the meeting will be held on May 15 and should set the tone for a close relationship between the regulators and the cryptocurrency industry.

Meanwhile, rolling out the new rules adds Finland to a growing list of countries to enact some regulation for the cryptocurrency space since the start of 2019. The other countries include Mauritius, the Philippines, Russia and Lithuania.

Rishma Banerjee

Rishma is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and has a special place in her life for sifting through all sorts of random trivia, thank you very much.