CySEC has published a Directive on ‘the Register of Providers of Services Regarding Crypto Assets’, under powers conferred by Law 188(I)/2007 on ‘Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing’.
On 25 June 2021, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (‘CySEC’) published Directive Κ.Δ.Π. 269/2021 on ‘the Register of Providers of Services Regarding Crypto Assets’ (‘the CySEC Directive’). The CySEC Directive was published under powers bestowed to CySEC under recently amended Law 188(I)/2007 on ‘Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing’ (‘the Amended Law’). The Amended Law enacted the 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive (EU) 2018/843 (‘AMLD5’) into Cyprus national law on 18 February 2021, as analysed in our article here.
More specifically, under Article 61E (1) of the Amended Law CySEC is required to compile and maintain a Register for Providers of Services Regarding Crypto Assets (‘the Register’). Under Article 61E (2) the Register records Crypto-Asset Service Providers offering professional services from Cyprus irrespective of registration in another Member State, and those providing services in Cyprus unless registered in another Member State for such services. Under Article 61E (1)(γ) CySEC may determine via directive(s) the functioning, maintenance, record entry and update of the Register.
The key provisions of the CySEC Directive are the following:
The Register is published on CySEC’s website, and records the name, trade name, legal medium and legal entity identifier of the provider, its registered address, its website, as well as the services offered and activities in which it may participate. The provider must apply for entry using the application published in the CySEC website. Moreover, CySEC may request additional information where deemed necessary, and should confirm or deny entry on the Register within 6 months.
There are 20 individual but often overlapping conditions for registration set out in Para 6 of the CySEC Directive. The key requirements summarised below are:
Deletion may take place under Article 61E (5) of the Amended Law on one of the following situations:
CySEC may also suspend registration for an appropriate period, where it deems the information which appears on the Register is incorrect or incomplete, and where any of the Para 6 conditions are not met. During suspension in the latter case the provider may not provide crypto-asset related services.
The following changes are considered ‘substantial’ under Para 12 and require notification to and prior approval from CySEC:
The provider should maintain at any time capitals at least equal to the largest of the following sums:
A provider should pay a fee of €10,000 for registration, €5,000 for renewal of registration on an annual basis, and various smaller fees for notification of a substantial change.
Finally, any potential conflicts of interest are notifiable to the client, who must be informed of any measures taken by the provider to mitigate these risks.
For more information please visit our website microsite on Blockchain or contact Mr Ioannis Generalis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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