The Economic Affairs Commission (CAE) approved the regulations established by PL 3,825/2019, by Flávio Arns (Podemos-PR), which has PLs 3,949/2019, 4,207/2020, which come together and call for the regulation of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Brazil. The session was chaired by Senator Vanderlan Vieira Cardoso (PSD-GO).
Senator Irajá (PSD-TO) is the rapporteur for the three proposals and presented a substitute for Senator Flávio Arns’s project and recommended the shelving of the other issues. The speaker said that his text took into account the suggestions of the other proposals, of other senators, of members of the government and also of the debaters who participated in the public hearings promoted by the CAE.
“It is a project that we created together with the Central Bank, with the CVM, together with the Brazilian IRS and several other entities and private companies. We are modifying the penal code to classify the crimes of financial pyramids and other crimes of fraud with cryptocurrencies with a prison sentence of 4 to 8 years. Our goal is to promote business with cryptocurrencies and protect investors,” said Senator Irajá, rapporteur for the PL.
The substitute defines that the Executive Branch will be in charge of defining which bodies will regulate and supervise businesses with cryptocurrencies. The rapporteur’s proposal is that the Executive establish norms aligned with international standards to prevent money laundering and the concealment of assets, and combat the activities of criminal organizations.
“We are wasting a lot of time, we urgently need to regulate this,” said the president, Senator Vanderlan Vieira Cardoso (PSD-GO).
However, The approval of the PL took place in the Economic Affairs Committee, so it will not yet become law because it depends, among other things, on approval in the Senate Plenary. Then it goes to the House of Representatives, which is the review chamber of the Senate and, only then, for presidential sanction.
“I vote yes to the project and I congratulate Senator Irajá for the initiative together with the other government bodies. We have to take a step yes in the regulation of this market with all care so that legality prevails in all steps with all the guarantees for those who want to invest and undertake in this market that is part of the future and of the day to day now and for the next generations”, highlighted Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
What’s more, There is in the Senate, at a much more advanced stage of processing, PL 2303/15, authored by Aureo Ribeiro (SD-RJ) awaiting review by the legislative house. However, according to the Senate, although the bill has already been processed in the House, it has not yet been sent to the Committee on Economic Affairs.
Also according to the Senate, the senators still do not know how they are going to deal with the different bills that call for the regulation of cryptocurrencies in Brazil and that have been initiated in the different chambers of the legislative power.
Law approved in the Senate
The text approved in the Senate also defines virtual assets as a digital representation of value that can be traded or transferred by electronic means and used for payment or investment purposes. That is, currencies that are traded exclusively over the Internet, excluding sovereign currencies (issued by governments) and electronic currencies from this list.
In the text, the speaker classifies the virtual asset service provider as the company that performs, on behalf of third parties, at least one of the services: exchange of cryptocurrencies (exchange for sovereign currency); exchange between one or more cryptocurrencies; transfer of virtual assets; custody or administration of these assets o virtual asset control instruments; or participation in financial services related to an issuer’s offering or sale of virtual assets.
The rapporteur’s proposal is that the Executive establish rules in line with international standards to prevent money laundering and the concealment of assets, and combat the activities of criminal organizations. Senator Soraya proposed and the speaker maintained the idea of creating a National Registry of Politically Exposed Persons (CNPEP).
The project also addresses the principles for cryptocurrency agents, such as the protection of popular savings, care for information security and care with the protection of customer data. It also provides for a sentence of four to eight years in prison, in addition to a fine, for those who commit fraud in the provision of virtual asset services.
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