Singapore’s Central Bank Backs New Code of Practice for Crypto Companies

A Singapore cryptocurrency industry non-profit has released a code of practice for digital asset payment providers that was guided by the city-state’s central bank.

• The Association of Cryptocurrency Enterprises and Start-ups Singapore (ACCESS), a group comprising over 400 crypto and blockchain-related businesses, announced the release Thursday.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore "facilitated" the initiative, aimed at assisting regulatory compliance and enhance crypto industry conduct; the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) also helped with its development, ACCESS said.
• The guidance is designed around the requirements of the country's Payment Services Act, which was updated early in 2020 to require digital asset businesses operating in Singapore to register for a license.
• Specifically, it attempts to offer a standardized approach to combating money laundering and terrorism financing through know-your-customer (KYC) best practices.
• ACCESS Chairman Anson Zeall said the guidance would point both global and local digital payment service providers "in the right direction" and facilitate successful applications for operating licenses under the act.
• The code had been two years in development to ensure it's "in line with both the interest of our members and that of regulators," Zeall said in a tweet on Friday.
• The code comes amid efforts to align with the Financial Action Task Force's June 2019 guidance for global supervisory frameworks for virtual asset service providers.
• The code is expected to "evolve over time" collaboratively and will continue to be updated from "time to time" to ensure relevance, ACCESS said.

See also: Singapore Begins Crackdown on Unlicensed Bitcoin Sellers