ACCESS code of practice to ensure crypto service providers abide by strict regulations to standardise market
A crypto non-profit named ACCESS, with support from Singapore’s Central Bank, has released a “Code of Practices” to guide, regulate and standardise the responsibilities of crypto service providers.
The Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprise and Start-up Singapore, or ACCESS, is an assortment of more than 400 businesses within the crypto and blockchain industry.
According to its website it “promotes and protects the use and development of digital currencies and blockchain technologies”.
A well regulated crypto market
The recent paper highlighted the obligation of crypto-related firms to register for an operating license under the renewed Payment Services Act.
The act reads:
“All service providers in Singapore are required to apply for an operating licence to provide specified payment services, including digital payments and trading of digital tokens.”
Furthermore, the Act emphasises the importance of an effective Know-Your-Customer (KYC) system to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
Chairman of ACCESS, Anson Zeall, said the goal of the code of practice is to:
“Ensure that crypto-firms have put in place sufficiently robust AML (anti-money laundering) and CFT (combating financing terrorist) measures while taking into account their risk assessments. Along with the accompanying practice guide, it provides practical regulatory guidance to new types of payments activities such as e-wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges.”
Things are getting serious
In July, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) proposed the “New Omnibus Act for the Financial Sector”. The Act will allow regulators to ban any virtual asset entity that is suspected of unlawful activities such as money laundering or terrorist financing.
These proposals exist to legitimise the industry to reduce the risk for both the nation and investors, as well as helping to establish much-needed trust in a community that was once very obscured and unreliable.
Around the same time the New Omnibus Act was proposed, Singapore’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has forced Liquid to delist up to 29 cryptos due to stricter regulations.
Liquid announced:
“Due to heightened compliance requirements set by Singaporean regulations, some listed tokens cannot continue to trade on Liquid and will be taken off the markets.”
Although Singaporean exchanges were forced to delist assets, the overall level of regulation is likely to help the nation’s crypto industry to grow.