(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 13. Several
cryptocurrency exchanges are finishing preparations for work at
AIFC Astana International financial Centre, Director of Fintech
department at the AFSA Astana Financial Services Authority Yagub
Zamanov told Trend .
AFSA licensed 6 AIFC companies to provide financial services for
managing the digital assets platform (crypto exchanges). Three of
these companies have been licensed since March 2022.
Currently, most crypto exchanges are completing preparatory work
related to implementation of additional requirements and conditions
established by a pilot project on 'The rules of interaction between
the AIFC crypto exchanges and Kazakhstan's second-tier banks
(STBs)'.
This includes, for example, establishing relationships with
banks to integrate systems, as well as meeting requirements to
ensure minimum regulatory capital, ensuring requirements to protect
retail investors and cyber security requirements.
In general, the requirement of AIFC's pilot project on the
interaction of Kazakh banks and crypto exchanges are aimed at
ensuring the sustainable development and functioning of the digital
asset market, reducing risks, and consist in providing crypto
exchanges with the following key measures (but not limited to
them):
- Preventing the use of crypto exchanges for the purposes of
money laundering and terrorist financing. For these purposes,
crypto exchanges are required to provide the following key control
systems: the first is the 'know your customer' procedure and the
second is the 'know your transaction' procedure. That is, crypto
exchanges carry out identification and proper verification not only
of each client, but also verification of the client's personal
digital wallet and transaction history for signs of violation of
the requirements of the legislation on countering the legalization
(laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism
(AML/CFT).
- The guarantees of financial stability of crypto exchanges and
minimum guarantees regarding the rights of investors. The rules of
the pilot project establish requirements for the availability and
maintenance of a minimum regulatory capital, which should primarily
cover losses in the event of loss of digital assets, for example,
as a result of cyber attacks on the crypto exchange.
- Protection of the interests of retail investors. The pilot
project provides the following measures to ensure the protection of
the interests of the most vulnerable category – retail investors:
investment limits for retail investors in the amount of $ 1,000 per
month (or a large amount when income is confirmed), testing (or
classification) of clients to obtain the status of a
qualified/professional investor, storage of digital assets in 'cold
wallets'.
- Additional investor protection measures. The regulatory
environment of the AIFC ensures the protection of the interests of
all categories of investors by the following measures: maintaining
the adequacy of regulatory capital, disclosure of the general risks
of digital assets in general and for each digital asset separately,
approval of each type of digital asset by crypto exchanges and AFSA
before allowing it to be traded on the crypto exchange
platform.
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