Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek recently revealed that Turkey’s draft cryptocurrency regulations have reached the final stage. Simsek said the new regulations, once they come into effect, will help minimize the risks associated with trading cryptocurrency assets.
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Minimum operating standards
Draft cryptocurrency regulations that, if enacted into law, are expected to help Turkey move off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) gray list have now reached their final stages, according to Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek. . Simsek added that once the new regulations come into effect, it will also minimize the risks of trading cryptocurrency assets.
In remarks published by Reuters, the finance minister revealed the name of the agency that will issue licenses for cryptocurrency platforms and the operating standards required.
“Crypto asset trading platforms will be licensed by the Capital Markets Board (CMB) and will require minimum operating standards, including some conditions for founders and managers, organizational obligations and capital requirements,” Simsek said.
In October 2021, Turkey was placed on the gray list after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) determined that Turkey’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing mechanisms were not effective. Since then, Turkey has been working to address some of the issues or concerns raised by FATF.
According to FATF’s July 2023 report, Turkey has made some progress in addressing most of the technical compliance deficiencies uncovered in the watchdog’s 2019 mutual evaluation report. The FATF said the country had since reassessed the six recommendations. However, the global watchdog noted in the same report that Turkey’s ability to regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs) could be affected by the lack of laws requiring licensing or registration.
Meanwhile, Simsek suggested that Turkey’s goal of making cryptocurrency transactions safer does not mean the country is opposed to emerging technologies such as blockchain. He explained:
We aim to pave the way for the development of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
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Source: Bitcoin.com