Banks in Spain are preparing to offer cryptocurrency services to their customers, but they are dissatisfied by their central bank’s lack of transparency.
In June, the Bank of Spain said that it would issue guidelines to firms interested in registering to provide crypto services.
According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the corresponding registry is supposed to be functioning by Oct. 29, but the banks are still waiting for orders.
In particular, it’s unclear whether the registry – which is primarily intended to combat money laundering – is intended for financial firms that are already regulated.
Gloria Hernández Aler, a partner at regulatory advice firm finReg360 said that it would not make sense for a bank to go through the procedures mandated because these organizations are already actively supervised. However, it makes sense for them to notify that they will be providing this type of service, and they will very certainly need to amend their money laundering policy to accommodate the dynamics of crypto assets.
In the absence of clear guidance from the central bank, some significant financial institutions’ compliance departments have set out to determine whether they need to register to offer crypto services, according to El Pais.
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