The city-state’s Tuesday passage of the law means such companies will have to meet anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism measures, for which they were not previously regulated.
The Singapore parliament passed a law on Tuesday that will require crypto businesses based in the city-state but only doing business overseas to be licensed, according to Bloomberg.
At the moment, Singapore’s crypto entities are not regulated for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and thus the move is aimed at tightening rules for cryptocurrency providers.
Singapore is walking a tightrope of both welcoming Web 3 companies while issuing guidelines to limit crypto ads in public spaces and media.
The new rule is part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. This bill includes the imposition of a higher maximum penalty of S$1 million ($737,050) on financial institutions if they experience cyberattacks or their services are disrupted.
The bill gives greater powers to the Monetary Authority of Singapore to prohibit individuals who are deemed unfit from performing key roles, activities and functions in the financial industry. These will now include individuals providing payment services and conducting risk management.