Spanish digital asset companies to soon face new registration requirements following latest bill

• Spain is amending the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws to be compliant with the EU.
• Under the amended law, firms with custody of customers’ private keys will be subject to national regulation.
• Digital asset entities must register their services with the Bank of Spain within nine months from enforcement. 

To comply with European Union law, the lawmakers in Spain are currently amending the country’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing laws. A recently proposed amendment requires virtual currency service providers to register with the Bank of Spain. If enacted, the law will place Spain in compliance with the EU’s fifth Anti Money-Laundering Directive (AMLD5). EU member countries had 18 months to comply with the new directive. Back in February, it had sent warning letters to eight countries, including Spain, urging them to take the necessary measures. 

According to a CoinDesk report, Mariana Gospodinova, the general manager of virtual currency platform Crypto.com’s Europe operations, said that the knowledge surrounding digital assets had increased significantly since the AMLD55 was first published. She added that it has helped regulators understand the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and offer amendments that will improve risk mitigation greatly. 

States may have benefited from a further extension of the implementation period and each country may have had their own reasoning as to why [there were] delays – from political circumstances to [a] lack of resource[s] to comply within the period given.

Under Spain’s amended law, crypto-to-fiat exchanges, crypto-only exchanges, e-wallet providers and those who have custody of customers’ private keys will be subject to national regulation and registration. These entities must register their services with the Bank of Spain within nine months from enforcement of the law. 

An excerpt from the government website says:

The Draft Law advances in the reinforcement of the money laundering and terrorist financing control system, incorporating the new community provisions and including additional improvements in the current regulation to increase the effectiveness of prevention mechanisms.