Spanish Parliament Set to Decide Fate of Crypto Exchanges Regulations

The Spanish parliament is set to vote on a new crypto exchange regulation law in the “second half of 2020” – after the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation announced it was preparing to police the nation’s trading platforms.

Per an official statement, the ministry said that it had prepared a draft bill that would force crypto exchanges, wallet providers and crypto custodial service providers operating in Spain to abide by new anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing protocols.

Under the terms of the new bill, cryptoasset companies will have to register with a financial regulator and prove that they are meeting AML requirements if they want to continue their operations. The law will see companies make use of “real-name” identification systems, presumably in line with South Korea’s real-name banking guidelines, which earlier this year were enshrined into law – becoming effective early next year.

These identification systems will feed into a “single registry” to be controlled and monitored by a regulator – in theory putting an end to anonymous trading on domestic platforms.

The ministry added that its public consultation on the matter was now closed. It also stated that the Spanish financial intelligence unit Sepblac (the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offenses) had seen the proposal and given its consent.

After this month, Spain’s parliament, the Cortes Generales, is next in session in September.

A number of leading economies are now moving to police crypto exchanges, with Japan still hopeful of convincing fellow G20 members to adopt a uniform regulatory framework.
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