The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on April 2 that it would amend the Payment Services Act and its subsidiary legislation to expand the regulatory scope of payment services.
Singapore increases regulation of “digital payment tokens”
The amendment is expected to be implemented in phases from April 4. The scope of supervision for "Digital Payment Token (DPT) operators includes:
Provides DPT hosting services.
Assist with cross-border remittances, even if funds are not received or paid in Singapore.
Assist in DPT transfers and exchanges, even if the operator itself does not hold the relevant funds or the DPT.
Put forward anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing, user protection and financial stability requirements for DPT service providers.
MAS pointed out that it will provide transitional arrangements for entities within the scope of supervision. Such entities need to notify the Monetary Authority within 30 days after April 4 and submit a license application within 6 months, so that they can continue to operate their business during the license review period.
In addition, operators are required to submit an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing compliance report issued by an external audit within 9 months of application. Businesses that do not comply must cease relevant activities immediately after the amendment takes effect.
(The Monetary Authority of Singapore prohibits retail leverage and margin trading, and credit card encrypted payments)
Former MAS adviser: Improving regulatory clarity
In recent months, many crypto exchanges have obtained licenses or obtained in-principle approval in Singapore. It is unclear what the impact of Singapore’s expanded regulatory scope will be:
10/2: Coinbase obtains Singapore’s major payment institution license and will regard Singapore as a priority market
11/16: Paxos received preliminary approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and plans to launch a new US dollar stable currency
11/17: XREX received in-principle approval from Singapore’s payment institution license and will expand the types of currencies it supports.
3/13: OKX receives in-principle approval for a Major Payments Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore
However, according to The Block, Angela Ang, former MAS Vice President of Payment Supervision and current TRM Labs Senior Policy Advisor, is optimistic about this:
This amendment, which has been in the works since 2021, will bring much-anticipated regulatory clarity to crypto custodians in Singapore.
Legal consultant Kelvin Low also said that these regulatory updates were expected. If this would affect crypto companies, they would have withdrawn from Singapore long ago.
This article Singapore expands the scope of digital payment supervision, and 4/4 of non-compliance crypto companies need to stop business. First appeared on Chain News ABMedia.
