The MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) has announced measures to update the existing regulatory framework guiding all digital payments.

Announced early Tuesday morning, the PSA Act of 2019 (Singapore’s Payment Services Act) is aimed at introducing DPT (Digital Payment Services) under the existing AML and CTF (Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist-financing) rules. By doing so, it means that all crypto exchanges and businesses operating in the country will all have to abide by these rules.

The new rules introduced by Singapore are very similar to the AMLD5 (Fifth European Anti-Money Laundering Directive) that was affected earlier this month. They are rules that have been in the making for a long time, with the PSA having been passed as far back as a year ago.

In the last few months, Singapore has proven that it is among the forward-thinking jurisdictions when it comes to regulating the digital assets industry. Starting the 28th of this month, crypto firms will have up to thirty days to register their details with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

They also have to state that they are based in the country and operating a legitimate DPT company. When the registration process is complete, a six-month period is referred to as the grandfathering period will follow. During this time, all companies that have applied for registration and been successful will need to submit an application for the payment institution license. Loo Siew Yee, the Assistant Managing Director of MAS released a statement stating that,

“The Payment Services Act provides a forward-looking and flexible regulatory framework for the payments industry,” Loo went on to add that “The activity-based and risk-focused regulatory structure allows rules to be applied proportionately and to be robust to changing business models.”

Many countries around the globe have started to implement crypto regulations based on the recommendations that were first made by the FATF in October 2018. The Financial Action Task Force updated its recommendations a year later in June 2019. The implementation of these regulations is being seen as an attempt by countries to comply with the “travel rule”, which is one of the guidance issued by FATF.

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