We continue the series of publications on the legal status of cryptocurrencies in the EU zone. Today the object of our research is Italy. Let’s try to figure out why this particular country can become a kind of separate testing ground on which the regulatory mechanism in the field of cryptocurrencies will be tested for the entire EU zone.
When the Italian auction house, based in Rome, in October 2017 allowed transactions for the purchase and sale of art and antiques for bictoin, many were stunned by the loyal attitude of the Italian authorities to cryptocurrency initiatives.
However, this was followed by no less resonant news, which in a short time spread throughout the entire Internet community, that the Italian national regulator, represented by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance On February 2, 2018, he came up with a legal initiative, submitting a completely new draft of the Decree on the regulation of cryptocurrencies to public hearings.
The official purpose of this regulatory act, the hearings of which, by the way, were supposed to be completed before 02/16/2018, is to bring the Italian regulatory framework into compliance with the 5th EU Directive on combating money laundering obtained from crime. In any case, this was discussed in press release of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
An interesting nuance is that the Government had already provided for in its Decree No. 90 of May 25, 2017 year, regulations that obliged virtual currency service providers to comply with anti-money laundering obligations in order to prevent illegal transactions carried out using cryptocurrencies.
Thus, there is every reason to believe that the true motives of the Italian state regulator, covered by this communiqué, lie rather in the diplomatic plane. And they are probably connected with the desire of such European “giant countries” as Germany, France and the UK to test regulatory “carrots and sticks” on their fellow Lilliputians (in this case, Italy), whose economy will become a kind of “testing ground” on the scale of a single economic space.
Perhaps Italy is one of the first who intends to systematize into a single regulatory act those requirements that are put forward to all EU members, in relation to cryptocurrencies and business entities providing services in this area. In particular, the draft of the new Decree re-defines cryptocurrency, which was previously introduced by Decree No. 90 of May 25, 2017..
Thus, virtual currency, although “used as a medium of exchange for the purchase of goods and services” (...), is not issued by a central bank or government agency, and does not necessarily have an exchange rate pegged to any currency, as legal tender.” In addition, the Treasury Department of the Italian Ministry of Finance plans to practically implement, with all the technical specifications inherent in this, a unified state register of cryptocurrency service providers, which should be launched within 3 months after the entry into force of this Decree.
At the same time, in the case of converting cryptocurrencies into fiat money and vice versa, due to the risks of their use for illegal purposes, such as money laundering and terrorist financing, strict KYC&AML requirements are put forward. That is, the new Italian legislation already provides that service providers related to virtual currency are included in the subject of performing “due diligence” of clients and submitting reports to the UIF (Unità di Informazione Finanziaria della Banca d’Italia) - the financial information department of the National Bank of Italy, on alleged operations of money laundering and terrorist financing.
In addition to the analysis and assessment of social initiatives under this regulatory act, the Italian authorities as “feedback” they want to receive information about the volume of the domestic cryptocurrency market and the number of companies operating them.
According to the statement of the head of the Italian Agency for the Prevention of Financial Crimes Roberto Ciciani, “...the register and the beginning of state registration, among other things, will allow better control over compliance with the rules by operators, and will also in a certain way supplement information about the legality of their activities.”
Let us repeat that before On February 16, all interested parties in Italy were supposed to come to a single, balanced consensus on this issue. While the new regulatory rules must be implemented before July 2018. After the decree is adopted as a basis, existing service providers will have the opportunity to register in the new database of the Agency for Agents and Mediators within 60 days...
So, once again, you and I can all state the fact that more and more participants in the EU cryptocurrency market are becoming hostages of the foundations of a conservative financial system, ready to do anything for the sake of the ideal “drive the Blockchain industry into the Procrustean bed of state institutions.”
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