The central bank of Malaysia, Bank Negara, announced on Tuesday, Feb. 27 that its policies on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) for Digital Currencies are now in effect. The new policies which affect cryptocurrency exchanges can now be enforced in the country.
The New Guidelines
The bank explained that the final rules were a product of consultations with the public and considerable feedback from a cross-section of existing digital currency exchanges, industry associations, law firms, financial institutions, academia and other interested individuals. A draft policy was published on December 14 last year, opening the door for feedback from stakeholders. The bank recently released a statement saying that the public will decide the future of cryptocurrency.
The new rules which apply to all activities performed by cryptocurrency exchanges that offer both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto trading services were outlined under 15 major aspects. Some notable aspects include customer due diligence (CDD), declaration to the bank, reliance on third parties, management information systems and combating the financing of terrorism.
The policy provides guidelines for exchanges to check and collect information about customers using their platforms and report any suspicious information to the bank. Customer information required by the central banks includes their full names, dates of birth, and purpose of each transaction.
Not yet Regulated
The central bank made it clear that it does not endorse cryptocurrencies. The bank noted:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The public is reminded that digital currencies are not legal tender in Malaysia.[/perfectpullquote]
The bank further warned that cryptocurrency businesses were still regulated by the bank advising them to tread with caution. The statement read, “Members of the public are advised to carefully evaluate the risks associated with dealings in digital currencies”
Finally, the bank promised to monitor developments in the crypto space and reveal relevant data to the public.
Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.
