The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, recently announced that it plans to suspend issuing new VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) licenses as of September.
This would go on for another three years. Market conditions will dictate how seriously we take this, though.
The BSP Will Cease Issuing New VASP Licenses Effective Immediately.
Official at the Philippines Central Bank Chuchi Fonacier announced that the bank would no longer issue VASP licenses. Current BSFls (BSP Supervised Financial Institutions) that wish to extend their services to include VASPs are still welcome to apply for a license.
Any business that isn’t traditionally a custodian but would like to start providing these services to their customers should read this as well. Nonetheless, Fonacier stressed that these organizations must provide a Supervisory Assessment Framework.
The bank added that the current decision was made to strike a balance between risk management and encouraging innovation in the country. According to the financial institution, this will prevent any potential dangers from becoming too great.
In addition, applications for licenses that had already passed the bank’s stage two verification process in August were given the green light to proceed. As a result, it wouldn’t be a roadblock for them.
What’s more, the bank has previously issued guidelines for crypto firms and exchanges in the country, so this news follows suit. In that report, the government outlined the BSP’s mandate to provide “complete protection” for Philippine financial customers.
The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission Issues Warning to Residents Regarding Binance
The BSP’s secondary mission is to foster an atmosphere conducive to the development of novel financial services. On the other hand, this shouldn’t open the door for terrorist financing or money laundering.
When it came to combating crypto-related crime and regulating the crypto sector, the government followed the lead of other countries. Media outlets in the Philippines, however, said that the ban had a devastating effect on the country’s economy and cryptocurrency use.
The country recently announced that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not on the radar for legalization. This is due to the fact that there are no assets backing the currency. Nineteen businesses are still waiting for their licenses to be approved in the country.
The country’s SEC issued a warning last week about the dangers of utilizing cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance. The governing body has stated that Binance does not qualify as a licensed entity and, hence, does not have a business license.
Director Oliver O. Leonardo said that the study and research conducted by the regulator determined that Binance does not have a license to operate in the country.
