In an attempt to better its past history of taking on financial offences, Pakistan is laying out new cryptocurrency rules. Pakistan is planning to implement a licensing program for digital money institutions in order to minimize presumed rates of violence including money laundering and terrorist funding. Trading in cryptocurrencies has been prohibited in Pakistan since April last year, according to Pakistani media outlet Dunya News. Citing anonymous sources, the Express Tribune explained the initiative as follows:
“These regulations will help combating money laundering and terrorism financing while it will also help regulation of digital currency throughout the country.”
Today, a function to officially announce the introduction of cryptocurrency regulations took place at the offices of the State Bank of Pakistan and Pakistan central bank. The program was attended by Asad Umar, federal minister for finance and Tariq Bajwa, State Bank of Pakistan’s governor.
The initiative was primarily due to insistences from Finance Action Task Force (FATF), global monitoring body, which has frequently expressed worries about terrorist funding through cryptocurrencies.
Back in February, FATF opined that Pakistan is yet to make sufficient progress with a formidable plan for fighting terror. Reuters has reported FATF of saying
“Given the limited progress on action plan items […] the FATF urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan, particularly those with timelines of May 2019.”
In the meantime, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP), which is Pakistan’s market regulator, revealed that it is in the process of taking action against nine firms which are believed to have used cryptocurrency for illegal operations
In this regard, SECP has issued the following statement
“Such schemes, offering hefty profits and incentives can deprive the unsuspecting public of their hard-earned money who fall prey to the inducements. It is further clarified that a mere registration of a company with SECP does not mean that it can get involved in unauthorized and unlawful activities.”
