Market Cap
24h Vol
7051
Cryptocurrencies
76497
Markets
2020-02-28

New crypto regulations

On 26 February, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan stated that his administration would strengthen its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing policy with regard to crypto currencies.

In his recent budget speech, Chan indicated that these changes would take into account the recommendations of the global financial supervisory authority.

Following the September 2019 evaluation. The FATF assessed that Hong Kong is "broadly consistent" with its AML/CFT guidelines. As a result of this assessment, Hong Kong has become the first jurisdiction in the Asia-Pacific region to pass the FATF assessment.

Proposed changes to Hong Kong's AML/CFT policy were presented as part of the Government's 2020-21 budget and will be implemented into law after a period of public consultation.

The Khan indicated that these changes will primarily affect providers of crypto and remittance exchange services, adding that "detailed proposals" will be published later this year. 

Dealers in precious metals, stones and jewellery will also be covered by the new legal framework against money laundering and terrorist financing.

Abu Dhabi is amending the crypto legislation to bring it into line with the FATF.

On 24 February, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, one of Abu Dhabi's three global market regulators (ADGM), announced changes to its crypto rules. These changes include changing the term "cryptographic assets" to "virtual assets" in order to align it with the FATF vocabulary. 

The ADGM will also extend the regulatory category 'Pursuit of cryptographic assets' to cover other regulated cryptographic activities, including custody services, operation of a trading platform and investment trading. 

Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong include the most recent jurisdictions that are updating their crypto regulations in response to the latest FAFT directives, following South Korea, Singapore and Switzerland.