The Albanian Parliamentary Assembly called on the Financial Supervisory Authority (AFSA) to approve the missing cryptocurrency regulations by the end of the year, after discussing the issue with international regulators.
Until the end of the year, AFSA should supplement and improve the legislation on crypto assets, as the country is ready to take advantage of the latest technologies, deputies say.
On September 1, 2020, Albania adopted a law on financial markets based on distributed ledger technology. It provides for the licensing of cryptocurrency activities in the country, as well as monitoring of financial structures using the blockchain. However, the full implementation of the law is impossible due to the lack of necessary by-laws. Earlier, former Albanian Finance Minister Anila Denaj said that the law would prevent the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering, as well as the emergence of new cryptocurrency fraudulent schemes and market manipulation. In addition, there are heavy fines for violators.
However, Parliament referred to the recent report of the Committee of Experts of the Council of Europe on the evaluation of measures to combat money laundering (Moneyval). It indicates the need to introduce additional procedures in the country to combat the risks inherent in cryptocurrencies. According to Moneyval, Albania has still not improved its measures against money laundering and terrorist financing, as recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In addition, the country is required to comply with the new international standards applicable to virtual asset service providers (VASPs).
In November 2021, AFSA already approved capital adequacy regulations for organizations operating in financial markets using distributed ledger technology. As well as on the licensing of organizations that act as an agent for working with digital assets.
Note that the Albanian government began to develop regulation of cryptocurrencies back in 2018 in order to diversify the country’s economy and attract more crypto-currency companies to it.
