The European Parliament has recently approved text-related anti-money laundering legislation for varied kinds of monetary fields, including cryptocurrency. Such regulations bring in additional compliance obligations surrounding the KYC and AML compliance for crypto companies.
One key point of this law is that it establishes the anti-money laundering entity in Frankfurt which resolves the industry’s issues throughout the European Union. Among other things, this authority may particularly target the entities widely regarded as the most likely money launderers.
Banks, asset managers, crypto companies, and other entities will in the future be obliged to have strict identification verification of their sales proxies under the new regulations. Therefore, they will also respond to the manager of the financial intelligence of the units and the other relevant competent bodies for any kind of abnormal activities.
Besides these procedures, the law intends to create transparency by granting to media, journalists, NGOs, and other independent bodies who are competent in the said area a chance for free access to beneficial ownership information. Therefore, this data allows for the assessment of who owns or controls the companies, and who may sit on the shareholders’ board. These help in greater accountability.
Even though the EU Parliament supported these measures, they all need to pass the EU Council of Ministers which comprises the member states before they can officially turn them into law. Critics of the regulations have referred to the enforced extreme nature of the digital asset operations as in comparison with another sector of the financial markets, but the aim here is to help move efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing across the European Union.
Did They Get Too Cozy With Crypto? US Regulators Shut Down Republic First Bank
Authority in America, for a change, basically spearheaded Republic First Bank’s closing, which is the first to happen in 2024 in the country. The occurrence of the collapse of the popular crypto exchange company together with a decrease in the prices of the major cryptocurrencies may be viewed as one of the terra-forming changes in the crypto community, which can be felt in the prices of coins such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and altcoins.
It has as well happened during the closing of the Philadelphia United States of America Bank in New York (also known as Republic Bank) under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. Thus,Citizens Bank, Sac City, Iowa Cavalieris was the first bank closure in the U.S. since the end of November 2023. Exactly this day, the doors of Citizens Bank in tiny Sac, Iowa were locked permanently.
FDIC has contracted with Fulton Financial Corporation, for the execution of the acquisition agreement for the Republic Bank acquisition. According to this agreement, the Fulton Financial Corporation will be responsible for the acquisition of all but the remaining 45 million dollars of deposits and assets of Republic Bank, National Association. The aftermath of this result was Fulton Bank, the United Kingdom-based parent company, becoming open either on Saturday or on Monday being the parent company. Most operations depended on the normal business hours on which they opened.
Those in the locale might be able to reverse the trend by utilizing paper checks, ATMs as well as debit cards until the transition has been completed. They will open accounts at Fulton Bank as before, and therefore be guaranteed deposit insurance without having to look for other financial institutions to which they can entrust their assets continuously.
Persons wishing to join the Fulton Bank after attending the Republic Banking session can contact the toll-free number of FDIC by using the service provider’s phone number. FDIC’s call line is going to be accessible mainly during the normal opening hours, so it can be used during weekends as well if a customer wants to ask any questions or report any issues.
Republic Bank reached $6 billion and $4 billion in total assets and total deposits on January 31, 2024, respectively. The FDIC estimates that the fund for carrying bad debt would be $667 million when the bank goes bankrupt. From the list of options, FDIC decided that Fulton Bank’s acquisition it’s the only possible choice that does not involve high costs for the DIF and preserves the interest of creditors or their deposits.
This is definitely a takeaway that supports the fact that there is a need for adequate regulatory oversight in the banking sector and reveals a requirement for sound measures to defend depositor interests and ensure financial stability.
Can You Still Bet on Bitcoin? SEC Considers Shaking Up Options Market
The US regulatory authority SEC is pondering over the main changes related to trading the options on bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These discussions of the crypto community have followed the issuing of the request for public comments on the SEC to regulate the influence of options trading with the bitcoin ETFs on the market in total.
The option is very important for them to understand whether the current surveillance is enough to cover the complicity of this option and to give the investors protection during the volatile market. The Cboe Exchange, Inc., BOX Exchange LLC, and others are among the exchanges that have petitioned the approval of options trading for the spot Bitcoin ETFs that have been approved. These proposals intend to help to add investment instruments to the range and facilitate market liquidity.
The views of the ongoing public interest have been invited to review the proposed rule changes. The SEC is now concerned with whether Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) spot and options trading should be regulated like stocks by a rule that contains limitations to positions. The deadline for comments from the public and stakeholders is May 15, 2024.
On one side, the options option of having Bitcoin is full of potential profits including increased market liquidity and efficiency. On the other hand, the decision-making process is so complicated and might be delayed. SEC, which has been re-evaluating whether or not to have options trading on Grayscale and Bitwise Bitcoin ETFs, has now set the new decision date for May 29, 2024. Asset management firms like Bitwise and Grayscale are trying hard to receive regulatory approval for listing options on their Bitcoin ETFs. They suggest that options trading might also be able to present investors with effective hedging strategies and sophisticated risk management instruments, just like options to spot gold ETPs.
Throughout its consultation on Bitcoin options trading the SEC has demonstrated constant dedication to regulatory adaptation in the face of a rapidly emerging crypto space, managing to reconcile innovation and investor safety at the same time.
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