Qatar Financial Centre Imposes Blanket Ban on Crypto

By Kapil Gauhar

The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority made an announcement about digital assets services for not be conducted in or from the Qatar Financial Centre.

The regulator declared the latest measures in a tweet that was published on December last year saying that the authorized firms are not allowed to offer or facilitate the provision or exchange of cryptocurrencies and the related services until further notice

The QFCRA warns –

“The Regulatory Authority shall impose penalties in accordance with its rights and obligations […] in case of any violation of undertaking […] activities that are not permitted in the QFC.”

The Qatar Financial Centre is a business as well as financial center with its own regulatory, legal, tax and business infrastructure in Qatar which was created for attracting businesses to the area that promote economic development within the country.

As indicated by the official website, the center has attracted more than 500 firms with about $20 billion in combined total assets under management.

An article published by local media noted that the nation just adopted new Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financial norms. The Qatari central bank governor, Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, commented –

“The State of Qatar affirms that fighting money laundering and terrorist financing requires a strict and effective regulatory and legislative framework, whereby the powers and responsibilities of both government agencies and relevant ministries are defined in relation to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

Where some nations such as Switzerland have opened up to the possibilities of cryptocurrencies, others see them as a threat to their country.

India’s Central Bank, The Reserve Bank of India, initiated a ban on crypto assets that prevents all financial institutions within the nation from offering services for cryptocurrency-related business.