Important changes in Estonian legislation for issuing the license of virtual currency

In the beginning of May 2019, a new law was passed in Estonia, which much more tighten the control over issuing licenses to cryptocurrency companies. The changes are related to the terms and the conditions for obtaining a license for service providers who want to purchase and sell virtual currencies as well as provide virtual wallet services.

The government stated that this is an important, but only the initial stage of introducing new regulations, that will help prevent money laundering and reduce the risk of crimes in finance offerings.

New requirements:

• Members of the board of companies are required to have an excellent reputation and a biography in order to be successfully examined by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit.
• The registered address and the permanent establishment of the company must be in Estonia. If you are a foreign company, then in order to apply for an activity license, you must first open a branch in Estonia.
• The state fee for attaining a cryptocurrency license increases from 345 to 3,300 euros, and the procedure for issuing extends from 30 working days to three months.

It is also important to point out that not only those who want to apply for a license should take into account new rules, but the current license holders as well. By December 31, 2019, all companies, without exception, should bring their activities in line with the requirements of the updated legislation and provide additional data to the Financial Intelligence Unit.