The congressman of the Colombian Green Party, Mauricio Toro, announced that the first debate of four was approved of the exchange regulation bill. It happened shortly before the presidential elections, which resulted in Gustavo Petro as the winner and new president. According to the proponent of the law, it will seek protect investors and generate a legal framework to the work of companies buying and selling crypto assets.
🎉 Very good news #crypto In colombia! The 1st debate of our Project to regulate the #CryptoPlatforms #Exchanges
Colombia is one of the countries that trades the most in cryptos, but the Exchanges cannot function due to lack of regulation. We are advancing!! pic.twitter.com/QuVVrdrFjR
– Mauricio Toro (@MauroToroO) June 7, 2022
As is the case in various countries in the region, the legal framework for cryptocurrencies is not entirely clear. In the case of Colombia, there were small circulars and some communications from the entities in charge of commercial regulation –such as the Superintendency of Companies– but this new bill seeks to expand the scope and depth of regulations. For example, provides that all operators are constituted as a commercial company or franchise of a foreign company, as well as a Single Registry of Cryptoactive Exchange Platforms.
The law seeks that investors and interested parties who approach the crypto world know risks, benefits and profits in a clear and concise manner, trying to guarantee a certain level of legal certainty, trying to prevent the operation of “ghost” companies, Ponzi-type scams and the like. But, also, the regulation seeks to open the game to the traditional players of the financial world; in particular those banks, which could connect the world of fiat with the world of digital money.
The 9 key points of the law: what does a crypto service provider have to do
According to the letter of the project, there are some issues that every company that wants to engage in the trade of a crypto product or service must comply.
- They must be one commercial company domiciled in the national territory or as a branch of a foreign companyand be duly registered in the commercial register.
- must engage only in qualifying activities as “Crypto Asset Exchange Services”.
- The entity must have a computer security program in accordance with the instructions issued for this purpose by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.
- Must be detect and prevent washing of assets and the financing of terrorism, in accordance with article 8 of this Law.
- Register in the RUPIC before the Chamber of Commerce of its main domicile indicating the PIC(s) of which it is the owner, the web domain and the information determined by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.
- Must respond to the Financial Information and Analysis Unit under the terms of Law 526 of 1999, and must report unusual transactions or suspicious.
- Comply with the rules of personal data protection according to Law 1581 and complementary provisions.
- Implement Know Your Customer measures and Customer Due Diligence.
- have a Operations Manual for the operation of the PICs that it administers, approved by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.
In the meantime, the elected president of this country seems to be a supporter of the crypto ecosystem: this is clear from several statements by the president, one from 2017 being the one that seems to establish the most His point of view. “Bitcoin removes power of issuance from the states and the seigniorage of the currency from the banks. It is a community currency that is based on the trust of those who carry out transactions with it, since it is based on the blockchain, trust is measured and grows, hence its strength”, he said at that time.
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