Singapore’s Payment Services Act came into effect on 28th January 2020, which makes it compulsory for cryptocurrency businesses to obtain a license and get registered. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that the Payment Service act was first passed in January last year and is now in effect.
Crypto exchanges need to comply with AML and CFT.
According to the new law, all crypto exchanges in the country would have to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering laws and counter financing of terrorism requirements in order to operate in the country. The Monetary Authority of Singapore had previously said that cryptocurrencies carry significant money laundering risks due to their anonymous and borderless nature of transactions.
There are three classes of licenses.
According to the Payment Service Act, there are three categories of licenses that crypto businesses can obtain as per the type of business they conduct. The three classes of licensing include a money-changing license, a standard payment institution, and a major payment institution. Each service provider has to hold any one of these three licenses to operate in Singapore. Singapore based Zipmex, Japan-based Liquid are among the companies that are planning to apply for the license.
