Argentine Senate Passes Reform Creating Cryptocurrency Entities Registry

The Argentine Senate passed a law that creates a registry for any institution that offers cryptocurrency services in the country. The CNV, the Argentine securities enforcer, will manage this registry, which also establishes obligations for crypto companies to deliver personal information on their customers and other data to government entities.

Argentine Senate Passes Crypto Anti-Money Laundering Law

Argentine lawmakers introduced new requirements for virtual asset services providers (VASPs) operating in the country. In a session on March 14, the Argentine Senate unanimously voted to pass a law that amends the current regulatory framework for cryptocurrency exchanges and other crypto-related companies to comply with anti-money laundering controls.

The amendment determined the creation of a VASP registry managed by the securities enforcer in Argentina, the CNV. Also, the law determines different obligations for these companies, including delivering personal customer data and other info to “increase transparency, traceability, and monitoring of operations and users.”

The enactment of the law comes as an answer to the recommendations that the Financial Action Task Force (FAFT), the global money-laundering watchdog, had made the country before arriving to evaluate the country’s efforts in this regard.

Some reports pointed out the law would be passed via a presidential executive order due to its relevance, given that it had been approved by the lower chamber of Congress and shelved since April.

Cryptocurrency circles in Argentina had reacted negatively to the possibility of passing this law before with some stating that this measure would lead to market consolidation. Large VASPs would have the resources to fulfill the requirements from day one while small exchanges and P2P markets could be priced out of operating.

Before passing this money laundering regulation, the Argentine Fintech Chamber also presented a law proposal to secure different tax exemptions for cryptocurrency holders, achieving parity between the tax obligations of crypto and other financial assets.