The Legislative Yuan passed the amendment to the (Money Laundering Prevention Act) on the third reading in July this year, stipulating that virtual asset providers (VASPs) must complete registration before they can provide services. The Financial Supervisory Commission announced on Wednesday that the "VASP registration system" will be officially launched on November 30 one month in advance; anyone who starts a business without registration approval will be punished with a maximum sentence of up to 2 years in prison.
The Financial Supervisory Commission pointed out in a statement that the amendment to Article 6 of the (Money Laundering Prevention Act) announced in July this year will come into effect on November 30. Business operators that provide virtual asset services (VASP) shall not provide virtual asset services if they have not completed money laundering prevention registration. Asset services; foreign operators are not allowed to provide virtual asset services in Taiwan if they have not registered for company or branch establishment and money laundering prevention registration; violators will be subject to criminal liability of up to 2 years.
In other words, businesses that have not completed the money laundering prevention compliance statement but intend to engage in the virtual asset business can register with the Financial Supervisory Commission after the regulations are implemented. Only after the registration is officially completed can they engage in the virtual asset business.
As for the 26 VASP platform operators that have completed the Money Laundering Prevention Legal Compliance Statement, the Financial Supervisory Commission has specially formulated transitional provisions. They must apply for registration with the Financial Supervisory Commission by March 31 next year at the latest and by September 30 next year. "Complete registration"; if you continue to operate without completing registration within the time limit, you may be punished with a maximum sentence of not more than 2 years in prison or a fine of not more than 5 million yuan, or in combination.
According to earlier reports, the biggest difference between the "Legal Compliance Statement" and the "Registration System" is that the former does not specify the specific qualification conditions for operators, while the latter will specify qualification conditions such as capital, information security, and personnel.
In addition, virtual asset operators were originally managed through "administrative penalties." In the past, if caught without completing a compliance statement, they could only be fined. However, after the (Money Laundering Prevention Act) is revised, it will be criminalized, and operating without registration will be punished. Virtual asset business will be punished.
"Taiwan VASP Registration System" is officially launched! The virtual asset service has not been registered, "the most important issue is 2 years". This article was first published on (Block Guest).