Romania Drafts Bill to Regulate Electronic Money

Editor's Note: Following the publication of this article, new information indicates that the bill in Romania is focused on electronic monies, not cryptocurrencies specifically. The article below has been amended accordingly.

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Romania has drafted an emergency ordinance for electronic forms of money, a local news outlet reported Thursday.

The draft, which was released by the Romanian Ministry of Finance, states that groups hoping to launch e-monies must have their tax and legal records verified. Following that, each member of the issuing organization is required to be approved by the Romanian National Bank (BNR), according to Business Review.

If approved, the draft would make BNR the sole authority over such products in the country.

BNR claims it would grant authorization to firms when it finds the applicants have "a formal framework for the management of the carefully designed electronic money issuance activity."

This framework must include a structure with "well-defined, transparent and coherent responsibility lines," efficient risk-management processes and "adequate internal control mechanisms" for issuing such forms of money, officials have reportedly outlined.

The draft ordinance also defines electronic money. It explains that the government sees it as "monetary value stored electronically, including magnetic, representing a claim on the issuer issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of performing payment transactions and which is accepted by a person other than the issuer of electronic money."

Once in effect, the authorization will only last for a 12-month period. If the approved issuers don't issue the money before the deadline, they will lose the authorization.

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