Market Cap
24h Vol
7051
Cryptocurrencies
76476
Markets
2019-12-09

Money Laundering Act in Ukraine

The Ukrainian government has approved the final version of the Money Laundering Act, which will apply to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASP) in accordance with FATF guidelines.

On 6th December the Council, the legislative body of Ukraine, published the final version of the law, which recognises virtual assets as a storehouse of wealth, while recognising their potential use in financial crimes such as money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing.

The new law contains some guidelines on how the government intends to monitor and regulate the trade in cryptographic currencies. One of the guidelines focuses on individual cryptographic transactions with a value of less than 30,000 hryvnia ($1,300), from which the government will collect the public key of the broadcaster for financial monitoring purposes only. 

However, once the transaction exceeds this amount, the government will apply the verification of both the sender and the recipient. The process will include verification of identity as well as verification of the nature of the business relationship.

For VASP, the threshold is above the price level of 40 000 hryvnia (USD 1 600). In such a case, VASP should provide the authorities with information when traders are registered in jurisdictions that do not comply with anti-money laundering recommendations, when traders are family members, when traders are foreigners and when cash transactions take place.

The main global cryptographic exchange Binance is reportedly working with the Ukrainian authorities to establish legislation on cryptographic currency in Ukraine. Binance has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine to jointly develop the legal status of cryptographic currencies. President Binance Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said in November that the legalization of cryptographic currencies and the adoption of progressive legislation can play a key role in bringing positive economic growth as well as attract additional investment.