The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) announced that from 1 May 2022, the activities of certain virtual currency service providers will be regulated in Belgium.
The service providers will have to meet a series of conditions related, in particular, to their professional integrity and compliance with anti-money laundering legislation.
The new rules apply to:
- exchange service providers between virtual currencies and legal currencies as well as private cryptographic key custody wallet service providers established in Belgium; and
- Automated Teller Machines (ATM's) installed in Belgium that allow the exchange between virtual currencies and legal currencies.
The obligations require service providers to register with FSMA to continue or start their activities. This registration implies compliance with a number of registration and exercise conditions, the control of which is ensured by the FSMA.
These conditions mainly concern:
- "the expertise and professional integrity of the effective managers of the service provider;
- the quality of certain shareholders of the service provider with regard to the need to guarantee sound and prudent management;
- the organisation and compliance with the rules relating to the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism."
Permanent compliance with these obligations is a condition for maintaining registration with the FSMA.