Australian Government Introduces Regulations for Digital Currency Exchanges
Following the increase in value for digital currencies throughout the world, governments are getting more and more involved in the regulation of digital assets. Based on this aspect, recent reports indicate that the Australian Senate has passed a bill, meant to ament their Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act, originally signed in 2006.
The amendments will help expand the scope of the act to cover digital currency exchanges as well. The new regulations of 2017, now mention that digital currency exchanges operating on the Australian territory will have to register with the Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, also known as AUSTRAC. Alongside, the bill also states that AUSTRAC will have to begin holding a register of digital currency exchanges from now on.
Apart from these new regulations, it has also been reported that crypto exchanges will now have to carry out a couple of more tasks, including mitigating, managing and identifying potential money laundering and/or terrorism financing risks taking place on their platforms. Other than managing the risks, exchanges will also have to verify the identities of their customers, and report whichever transactions they find suspicious over to the AUSTRAC. Records on transactions, alongside with customer identification will have to be kept for seven years before being deleted.
A press statement in this direction, made by Leigh Travers, mentions that: “This is a reform that ADCA has been calling for. We have been delighted to work with the Attorney-General’s Department and AUSTRAC on a sensible regime to provide business certainty and confidence to consumers.”
Many believe that this decision made by the Australian Government is in antithesis with their earlier decisions, meant to create a comfortable environment for digital currency-related businesses operating on their territory. Additionally, many cryptocurrency users believe that such moves are direct attacks on their online privacy. On the other side of the spectrum, some believe that such moves will further help legitimize digital assets and currencies, as their value continues to grow.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, Australia is following in the footsteps of several other countries which have decided to implement similar regulations. Luckily, it seems like most regulations are meant to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies for illegal purposes, which is understandable after all, considering that similar laws apply to fiat-based transactions as well.