Italian regulators shut down six FX and two crypto investing and derivative trading sites
|- The sites are accused of violating the Mifid2 and the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF) to provide illegal trading products and services.
- The authorities have set out to establish domestic crypto regulations to protect the investors.
According to a recent report by Finance Magnates, six foreign exchange websites and two crypto investing and derivative trading sites have been shut down by Italy’s securities regulator. The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has accused these eight sites of violating the Mifid2 and the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF) to provide illegal trading products and services.
The authorities have set out to establish domestic crypto regulations to protect the investors. A 2016 ministerial resolution implemented a decision made by the European Court of Justice. It states that any transaction involving the exchange of crypto assets with fiat currency would be non-taxable. However, the profits and losses incurred by these transactions are taxable.
The Italian Senate Committee on Corporate Affairs aims to create a guideline to help all IT and financial companies regulate their financial transactions electronically:
Legislative Decree No. 90 of 2017 subjected virtual currency providers to the regulations established for traditional money exchange operators. To that effect, Legislative Decree No. 90 charged the Ministry of the Economy and Finance to issue a ministerial decree setting forth the modalities and timelines for the legal performance of such activities throughout the country.
During the Code4Future conference, the former Minister of Economy and Finance Giulio Tremonti revealed that traditional banks will benefit greatly from the advancements made by the fintech sector:
Banks may be caught off-guard by fintech activities. An alliance between traditional banks and new digital industries is essential. A structure that incorporates new techniques but maintains old values.
The ex-Minister also spoke about decentralized crypto such as Bitcoin:
It’s the future and you cannot stop it. Having said that, Bitcoin does not have a clear legal status, and this is clearly an obstacle. According to accounting rules, it’s an asset you should put on your financial statements. But if it’s an asset that you should put on your financial statements, should VAT be applied when it is sold? It is still an area of great uncertainty.
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