Russian Security Service (FSB) and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) have submitted review notes on the country’s Finance Ministry’s upcoming “crypto bill.” Law enforcement agencies advocate for crypto firms to share transaction data with investigators and for the terms under which digital assets can be seized to be clarified.
On April 28, the local newspaper Izvestia reported on the contents of the review notes submitted by the security service and police ministry to the Finance Ministry’s draught bill “On digital currency.” The Ministry reportedly accepted some of the proposals while rejecting others.
The Finance Ministry agreed with the FSB’s proposal to require crypto service providers to share information not only with courts but also with criminal investigators. It also agreed that a set of requirements for storing crypto transaction data needed to be clarified.
Another remark came from the MVD, which stated that the bill lacks procedural details on the seizure and storage of crypto assets. The Federal Tax Service (FNS) also proposed tightening the requirements for non-licensed exchanges and wallets, making advertising such services illegal. The Finance Ministry also agreed with these recommendations.
What the Ministry did not accept was the FSB’s proposal to make all mined currencies mandatory to be traded on licensed exchanges, as well as the application of anti-money laundering (AML) legislation to mining.
The Finance Ministry deemed the “excessively detailed and tight regulation” unfeasible at this time, citing the risk of scaring away crypto users and investors. The FNS’ proposal to prohibit banks from conducting crypto transactions with non-licensed entities merited further consideration, according to the Ministry.
The final draught of the “crypto bill” is expected to be introduced to the State Duma’s Financial Market Committee in May, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma’s Financial Market Committee.
According to Reuters, the regional head of cryptocurrency exchange Binance agreed to provide customer data potentially related to donations to opposition activist Alexei Navalny to Russia’s financial intelligence unit, Rosfinmonitoring. In a blog post, the company called this allegation “categorically false.”
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