Non-compliance with Austrian FMA rules can result in heavy fines for crypto businesses. Authorities in Austria will extract fine from crypto businesses of up to two hundred thousand dollars ($221,000) if they do not adhere to the licensing guidelines prescribed by the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
Austria is known to have a liberal outlook towards cryptocurrency or virtual currencies. Crypto trading is hugely popular in the country. However, all the crypto trading companies and operators will have to register under FMA. Additionally, they must provide sufficient proof of adequate liquidity, trading resources, and due diligence credentials.
Follow Austrian FMA rules or cough out heavy fine
The new Austrian FMA rules were published in a recent legal notice. The new guidelines will cover all the trading activities about issuance, trading, exchange, and sale of virtual currencies in addition to custodian wallet providers. The new regulations can prove pretty strict for small-time brokerages and crypto exchanges.
Established European and international exchanges will also have to adhere to the new rules on an EU-wide scale. Leading European crypto exchanges have set up shop in Austria, including Bitstamp and Kraken. They will likely tide over these rules easily as they can achieve compliance swiftly. Bitpanda already sports a money-manager license. However, there is no data about the total crypto exchanges or brokerages operating on Austrian soil.
European Union AMLD5 regulations will affect EU crypto operations
The European Union AMLD5 regulations will also prove tough for crypto service providers. It demands greater scrutiny and increased vigilance of digital assets. AMLD5 regulations will go live on 10th January 2020. The primary aim of these new rules is to stop terror financing, illicit money channels, and money laundering. Recently, Panama papers revealed how personal wealth is hidden in new-age crypto assets.
The crypto operators are already doing traditional KYC checks and customer screening. Most firms do not do business with banned entities and sanctioned countries. Additionally, many crypto exchanges transparently work with the authorities to check illegal activities. It remains to be seen how Austrian FMA rules will affect the country’s crypto realm.
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