“Today’s announcement of co‑ordinated international action on cryptoassets is a major step forward, marking another important milestone towards the widespread and co-ordinated approach to combat tax evasion through greater transparency and exchange of information,” Secretary-General Cormann said.

“We strongly welcome the extensive support being shown for quick action to make the international exchange of information collected under the OECD standard on cryptoasset reporting a reality. The international community can count on the OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes to ensure that the tax transparency architecture remains both up-to-date and effective going forward.”

The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) is a key component of the International Standards for Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters developed by the OECD under a G20 mandate. It provides for the automatic exchange of tax-relevant information on cryptoassets and comes against the backdrop of a rapid adoption of the use of cryptoassets for a wide range of investment and financial uses.

The new Regulation, which was approved by Royal Decree of 8 February 2023 (Belgian Official Gazette of 17 March 2023), imposes obligations, including:

• rules regarding content, to ensure that advertisements are not inaccurate or misleading;
• the insertion of mandatory statements and, in particular, the brief warning 'Virtual currency, real risks. The only guarantee in crypto is risk.', as well as a longer warning summing up the main risks associated with an investment in virtual currencies;
• the obligation to notify to the FSMA all advertisements to be used in a mass media campaign at least 10 days before their dissemination, in the form in which they will be disseminated.

From 17 May, all new advertisements that are disseminated in connection with a distribution of virtual currencies to consumers must comply with these rules, regardless of the channel used for the dissemination. 

Thre is a transitional regime for advertisements that have already been disseminated before 17 May. These advertisements must comply with the Regulation by 17 June 2023.

The regulation has three main aspects:

• the basic principle that advertisements must be accurate and not misleading;
• advertisements must contain mandatory information that points out the risks; and 
• mass media campaigns must be notified to the FSMA in advance.

The authority also published a guide setting out the procedures for prior notification of advertisement of virtual assets as part of a mass media campaign.