Northwestern Europe’s country, Belgium has given out a statement regarding new rules for crypto. As per the rules anyone who is or wants to become a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) within Belgium has to register with the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) prior to any transaction.
This rule is applicable to all VASPs who want to provide exchange services between virtual currencies and legal currencies, or custody wallet services, within Belgium.
All Belgian crypto exchange providers have to follow this rule which will commence from 1st May, 2022. The statement also said that all the providers who have been already operating on 1st May, 2022 “must notify the FSMA of the exercise of their activity before 1st July 2022 and apply for registration before 1st September 2022.”
The European country’s financial regulator, FSMA, finalized this law in February which also covers the providers of custodial crypto wallets.
This move is following the European Union laws named as the ‘Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive’ and is intended to make sure that wallet providers report any unlawful or suspicious activity.
According to FSMA’s statement, anyone who fails to comply with the rule will get 1 year of jail time or will be fined 10,000 Euros ($10,500).
Europe is taking some major measures to ensure the prevention of illicit activities related to cryptocurrency. Like recently, European Union lawmakers passed some controversial laws to outlaw anonymous crypto transactions.
