Mehmet Simsek, the Turkish Finance Minister, recently revealed that a draft of his country’s crypto regulations is now in the final stage. Simsek said that once they come into force, the new regulations will help minimize the risks that are associated with trading crypto assets.
Minimum Operating Standards
According to Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, the draft cryptocurrency regulations, which are expected to help the country get off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s grey list once they become law, are now in the final stage. Simsek added that once they come into force, the new regulations will also minimize the risk of trading crypto assets.
In his remarks published by Reuters, the Finance Minister revealed the name of the body which is going to issue licenses to crypto platforms as well as the required operating standards.
“Crypto asset trading platforms will be licensed by the Capital Markets Board (CMB), and minimum operating standards will be required … including some conditions for founders and managers, organizational obligations, capital requirements,” Simsek said.
In October 2021, Turkey was placed on the grey list after the country’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing mechanisms were deemed ineffective by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Since then, Turkey has been attempting to address some of the issues or concerns raised by the FATF.
According to a July 2023 report by the FATF, Turkey had made some progress in addressing most of the technical compliance deficiencies that were revealed in the watchdog’s 2019 Mutual Evaluation Report. The country was subsequently re-rated on six recommendations, the FATF said. However, the global watchdog also noted in the same report that Turkey’s ability to regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs) may be affected by the lack of a law requiring them to license or register.
Meanwhile, Simsek suggested that Turkey’s goal of making crypto trading safer does not mean his country is against emerging technologies like the blockchain. He explained:
We aim to pave the way for the development of blockchain technology and the crypto asset ecosystem.
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