Following the amendment made to the Regulation on Measures Regarding Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism, crypto-asset service providers (“CASPs”) have been included in the definition of obligors of the Financial Crimes Investiga-tion Board (“FCIB”) on May 1, 2021. Further, FCIB also published a guide titled Main Princi-ples for the Crypto Asset Service Providers Regarding Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism, on May 4, 2021, to provide detailed information regarding the obligations that crypto asset service providers are bound with, as well as the sanctions imposed if crypto asset service providers fail to fulfil their obligations. With the latest guideline titled Guidelines for Suspicious Transaction Reports Regarding Crypto Asset Service Provid-ers (“Guideline”), FCIB has further set out the principles and requirements as to the report-ing procedure. The Guideline has been prepared based on Article 6 of the Communiqué No. 13 on Financial Crimes Investigation Board General and is effective as of 18 April 2022.
The Guideline requires CASPs to report suspicious transactions to the FCIB Presidency within 10 days at the latest, or immediately in the event of a non-delayable case. The reports must be filed using a form named Suspicious Transaction Report, by the legal representative of the obligor legal entity. The forms can be submitted by hand, via registered mail, fax, or electronically to those authorized by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
Suspicious Transaction Reports can be sent with a request for the postponement of transac-tions regarding the attempted transactions and transactions in progress. If the CASP has documents or serious indications supporting the suspicion, the justifications should also be demonstrated. During the process, the CASP must refrain from performing the transaction until the decision to be taken by the Ministry of Treasury is notified to them by the Presiden-cy.
The Guideline further explains the sections of the form in detail and defines categories of suspicion, types related to customer profile, types related to transactions, types related to crypto asset service providers, types related to transactions with persons suspected of affili-ation with terrorist organizations or transactions with risky countries, and types related to non-profit organizations.
