Requirements for Estonian Cryptocurrency Licenses in 2022
According to information published on the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Estonia, as of 15 March 2022, new requirements for all owners of Estonian Cryptocurrency Licenses have come into force, which include increasing the share capital amount from €12,000 to €100,000 - €250,000, developing a business plan and detailed documentation describing technical and organizational aspects of the company.
Main requirements for Estonian Cryptocurrency Licenses
Here are few main requirements for Estonian Cryptocurrency Licenses from the published document on the official website of the Ministry of Finance:
- The provider should determine when the virtual currency should be returned to the originator of the transaction, and when it should not be provided to the beneficiary of the transaction,
- The provider should take into account the completeness and adequacy of the originator and beneficiary information when determining whether an elevated risk exists and when considering STR reporting,
- Increased requirements for location, place of business (PE), and contact person,
- Mandatory annual audit control.
In addition, new requirements were added when the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has the right to refuse a license. For example, FIU can refuse a license when the company does not have any business operations in Estonia.
To find out more about requirements for Crypto Companies and Cryptocurrency Licenses in Estonia, please refer to our Baltic lawyers at info@gencs.eu