The reference date of the data to be collected to the first annual report is 31 December 2021, and the reporting deadline is 28 February 2022. A notice of reporting obligation has been sent to the companies separately.

At the same time, the regulator extended the scope of application of the FIN-FSA Standard 2.4 “Customer due diligence; Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing” to cover virtual currency providers from 1 December 2019 onwards. 

The regulations and guidelines present the FIN-FSA’s regulations, guidelines, recommendations and interpretations applicable to virtual currency providers concerning the holding of client money as well as compliance with legal provisions on customer due diligence and other anti-money laundering and counter terrorist-financing legislation.

Virtual currency providers operating in the market prior to the Act coming into force must submit an application for registration with the FIN-FSA by 18 August 2019 in order that their qualification for registration can be assessed by 1 November. New providers considering the launch of activities after the entry into force of the Act may only provide services to customers after their applications for registration have been processed and approved.

FIN-FSA said ICOs and cryptocurrencies are "highly speculative investments" and their use for payment is secondary.

“Evidently, the pursuit of quick profits has motivated individual citizens, who are buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies are not fully recognised, however. For this reason, the FIN-FSA is warning consumers about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies.”

The FSA said there is no solid foundation to the value information on cryptocurrencies. In addition, no one pays a real return, such as a dividend or interest, on bitcoin.

The expected return is based on the upward movement of prices, but the prices are extremely volatile and bring significant risk. Further, some cryptocurrencies are purely fraudulent.

FIN-FSA believes that ICOs are no less risky, urging those planning to invest in them to find out from the organisers the terms of investment before making a final investment decision.

FIN-FSA is the latest regulator to warn of the dangers of ICOs.