Ireland will introduce amendments to the legislation that will tighten the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced that a bill will soon be presented to implement the EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), which entered into force in January 2020. The Cabinet of Ministers supported the amendments to the current legislation. The updated money laundering law will contain provisions for all participants in the cryptocurrency industry. These will include trading platforms and cryptocurrency wallets.
Irish regulated banks and financial institutions will also be prohibited from creating anonymous safety deposit boxes. McAntee added that while updating the legislation, politicians had to work closely with regulators to properly formulate the language regarding the work with cryptoassets. She believes that the amendments to the regulation of digital assets are necessary to protect the rights of cryptocurrency investors.
Note that due to the 5AMLD directive, many trading floors had to change jurisdiction. So, due to the new EU regulation, the non-custodial exchange KyberSwap left Malta and registered in the British Virgin Islands. For the same reason, the Deribit cryptocurrency derivatives exchange moved from the Netherlands to Panama.
