The Russian authorities will not be able to avoid a clear definition of Bitcoin in the draft law “On Digital Financial Assets (CFA)”, which is currently in preparation for the second reading.
The relevant requirements were announced by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). It is reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the chairman of the committee of the lower house of parliament on the financial market, Anatoly Aksakov.
The deputy, in particular, said :
“The law on digital financial assets has been suspended. You know, we had the decisions of the International Anti-Money Laundering Measures Group (FATF), which required us to resolve issues related to bitcoins, etc. With what is already on the market … Somehow we brushed aside, we wanted to get around this issue, because there was a position defined by the Central Bank, but now we will in some way write down the norms that will determine the requirements for these cryptotools, which are now actively used on Russian market ".
Aksakov did not provide any further details, but his statement sounds encouraging, since he had previously said:
"We have removed from the bills on digital rights and digital assets, for example, the concept of" cryptocurrency ", because we decided not to legalize something that can be used to launder money and finance terrorism."
The bill does not contain the terms " mining ", "cryptocurrency" and "token". Instead, it regulates digital financial assets, including digital rights, as well as monetary claims and rights to equity securities.
Apparently, the lawmakers decided not to confine themselves to the vague concept of “digital assets” and make the bill more meaningful.
The current version of the bill was criticized by experts and broad users. For example, Valery Glazunov, director of the law firm Glazunov and Semenov, considered that the authors of the bill make a key mistake, equating cryptocurrency to securities.
Glazunov remarked :
“Judging by the document, the legislator does not understand what a cryptocurrency is: where does it come from, what kinds of its exist, and how many are already represented on the international market. There is also no understanding of why cryptocurrency is issued and how it can be used.
The key idea of cryptocurrency is money that is not “tied” to the territory — in fact, a universal decentralized financial system that does not obey the rules of international currency control and is not dependent on the banking system. Not understanding this, the legislator begins to equate cryptocurrency with securities, indicating in the draft law, for example, that a person must prepare a decision to issue digital assets – as with shares. ”
Rakib President Yuri Pripachkin believes that the current edition of the document on digital financial assets will not be needed by anyone.
“The legislators have the illusion that they will accept something and it will be necessary for someone. However, that edition, which is being discussed now, is not needed by anyone, it is needed only for a tick. The bill will regulate only the closed blockchain , and it is meaningless. It is impossible to regulate the industry in parts , ”said Pripachkin.
Partner of the law firm Taxology, deputy chairman of the Commission on the Legal Support of the Digital Economy at the Moscow Branch of the Russian Bar Association, Mikhail Uspensky, commented on Aksakov’s statement as follows:
“This is positive, stunning news for the whole crypto community. Previously, all government agencies that took part in the lawmaking process simply fended off the need to reconcile classical cryptocurrencies, including payment tokens issued on public blockchains. This, above all, about Bitcoin, of course. FATF was a kind Samaritan for the domestic cryptoindustry, although it still pursues its global goal: to prevent fraudsters, terrorists, drug barons and other illegal elements to establish global money laundering through Bitcoin. ”
In April, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters that the Ministry of Finance is counting on the bill to be considered by the State Duma in May.
For his part, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship Nikolai Arefyev, answering a question about the reasons for the delay in reviewing the document, said that by the second reading there were many contradictory amendments to the draft law .
“For consideration of the document, a special commission was created to coordinate the document with the government, experts. Many amendments were made to the second reading, now all the contradictions contained in them must be removed. I think that in June we will submit the document for adoption , ”said the deputy.
Publication date 22.05.2019
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