Uruguay To Bring Digital Assets Under The Control of Central Bank

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• Bill Grants BCU More Authority

A cryptocurrency bill has been submitted to parliament which would grant the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU) the authority to control virtual assets. The bill’s objective is to provide clarification on how cryptocurrency asset-related activities will be regulated.

According to local reports, in addition to granting regulatory control to the BCU, the bill, introduces the Superintendence of Financial Services (SSF), a charter of the central bank, to oversee a new category of virtual asset service providers. Among other things, the bill proposes changes to the BCU’s charter. Additionally, issuers of virtual assets have been defined in the bill and have been placed under the SSF’s supervision. Virtual assets are defined as:

The entities that regularly and professionally provide one or more services of virtual assets to third parties.

The bill adds:

With the proposed amendments, both the previously regulated subjects and the new incorporated entities that operate with virtual assets will be subject to the supervisory and control powers of the Central Bank of Uruguay.

As the bill is introduced, international and domestic entities that operate in the country will come under the purview of Uruguay’s anti-money laundering standards and the rules set forth for combating the financing of terrorism.

Bill Grants BCU More Authority

The proposed bill establishes that companies that facilitate the exchange of digital assets, and third parties that lend financial services related to the offer or sale of digital assets will be considered part of this asset class. The bill however also introduced another class of organisation called a “virtual asset issuer,” which it defines as a platform that issues any type of virtual asset included within the regulatory perimeter or requests admission of regulated virtual assets on a virtual asset trading platform.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.