Malaysia are expected to be more compliant and transparent, following a statement released by the Bank recently. The Bank clarifies that they do not regulate digital currencies, nor condone them, and continue to urge the public to do their research as they are solely responsible for their actions when it comes to trading or purchasing digital currencies. Bank Negara Malaysia, known as ‘the Bank,’ recently issued an exposure draft, talking about the reporting obligations that digital currency exchange businesses must adhere to under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA). The exposure draft, which can be accessed by the public at this link, describes and lays out the “minimum requirements and standards that digital currency exchangers must observe as reporting institutions to increase the transparency of activities relating to digital currencies and ensure effective and robust AML/CFT control measures are in place to mitigate risks that digital currency exchangers may be used as conduits for illegal activities.” Some of the things the draft talk about includes going into detail of what is expected of the digital currency business, such as providing information to the public in order to help them better process and assess the risks that come with cryptocurrencies.
The Bank hopes that the increased transparency through the declaration of details will deter the use of bitcoin, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies for malicious purposes from online criminals and terrorists. Any business that the exposure draft applies to that fails to comply with the reporting obligations or fails to declare its details may be subject to law enforcement and noncompliance actions as stated under the AMLA (as well as possible termination or denial of financial services within Malaysia). With more of the public seriously considering cryptocurrencies as a viable investment vehicle, especially considering bitcoin’s recent surge past $10,000 which made news on mainstream media sites all over, governments have adopted numerous approaches and regulatory measures to address the risks associated with the nascent currency.
