The Singaporean Parliament has green-lighted on Tuesday a law that will reportedly tighten rules for domestic cryptocurrency providers. According to Bloomberg, the new legislation will require service providers in Singapore that only do business overseas to be licensed. This is because they are currently not regulated under anti-money laundering or counter-terrorism rulings.
The law empowers the Monetary Authority of Singapore to prohibit individuals who are deemed unfit from performing vital roles, activities and functions in the financial sector. Such individuals will now include payment processors and risk managers. In addition, financial institutions can be fined up to S$1 million ($737,050) if they experience cyberattacks or their services are disrupted.
While other countries such as China have banned cryptocurrency outright, the city-state is welcoming cryptocurrency technology and has created a framework for regulating the industry. Additionally, it does not want citizens to be burned by speculation, so it is picky about who gets in.
Recent Licenses Granted
Last month, the digital asset services provider, Sygnum Singapore announced that it has gained in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to conduct additional activities under its Capital Markets Services (CMS) license.
Upon receiving full approval, the company will be able to facilitate asset managers and Web3 players in the region through capital raising solutions under a regulated environment. Sygnum aims to expand its tokenization solution in Singapore.
Moreover, Paxos, a cryptocurrency trading and custody platform, announced that it had received in-principal approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore for a license under the Payment Services Act 2019.
This new MAS license will allow Paxos to offer its digital asset and blockchain products and services to customers based in Singapore. In addition, it will help the blockchain company to support its partners in expanding services in the Asian markets. Based in New York, Paxos has had a Singapore presence since 2012. The company is following a strategy of seeking a regulatory license in strategic jurisdictions to strengthen its services.
