In Estonia, the number of registered cryptocurrency companies has decreased by almost 80%. About it reported at the Money Laundering Data Bureau (RAB).
Since the entry into force of the enhanced requirements of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act, about 200 companies have relinquished their business licenses. Approximately the same number canceled RAB due to non-compliance. In total, licenses were revoked from 389 firms.
According to the head of the department, Mathis Mäeker, when renewing permits, the Bureau repeatedly encountered “suspicious circumstances” that could potentially indicate a connection with illegal activities.
In a number of cases, RAB identified persons appointed as board members or contact persons who did not know about it themselves, did not have a proper business reputation and whose resumes were falsified. The business plans submitted by several companies contained financial projections, typographical errors, and were devoid of any logic.
Documents were often submitted in the wrong Estonian language—in some cases, inadequate machine translation was used. Many companies applied through the same legal service providers.
According to current lawCryptocurrency companies operating in Estonia must have a minimum level of capital and have compliance experts on staff AML-requirements.
As of May 1, 2023, there were 100 business licenses in force in Estonia to provide services related to cryptocurrencies.
Recall that in 2020, the Estonian authorities revoked the licenses of more than 1,000 firms operating in the field of digital assets.
In January 2021, the Ministry of Finance introduced a bill that tightens the requirements for cryptocurrency companies.
In October, Määker proposed to revoke all previously issued licenses from them. Later, the department explained that this would not lead to automatic cancellation of the documentation.
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Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!
In Estonia, the number of registered cryptocurrency companies has decreased by almost 80%. About it reported at the Money Laundering Data Bureau (RAB).
Since the entry into force of the enhanced requirements of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act, about 200 companies have relinquished their business licenses. Approximately the same number canceled RAB due to non-compliance. In total, licenses were revoked from 389 firms.
According to the head of the department, Mathis Mäeker, when renewing permits, the Bureau repeatedly encountered “suspicious circumstances” that could potentially indicate a connection with illegal activities.
In a number of cases, RAB identified persons appointed as board members or contact persons who did not know about it themselves, did not have a proper business reputation and whose resumes were falsified. The business plans submitted by several companies contained financial projections, typographical errors, and were devoid of any logic.
Documents were often submitted in the wrong Estonian language—in some cases, inadequate machine translation was used. Many companies applied through the same legal service providers.
According to current lawCryptocurrency companies operating in Estonia must have a minimum level of capital and have compliance experts on staff AML-requirements.
As of May 1, 2023, there were 100 business licenses in force in Estonia to provide services related to cryptocurrencies.
Recall that in 2020, the Estonian authorities revoked the licenses of more than 1,000 firms operating in the field of digital assets.
In January 2021, the Ministry of Finance introduced a bill that tightens the requirements for cryptocurrency companies.
In October, Määker proposed to revoke all previously issued licenses from them. Later, the department explained that this would not lead to automatic cancellation of the documentation.
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press CTRL+ENTER
Cryplogger Newsletters: Keep your finger on the pulse of the bitcoin industry!