Just recently, the financial regulatory authority in Switzerland made an announcement that concerns the cryptocurrency sector.
The announcement by the regulator is surrounding the imposition of extended regulations over illicit transactions.
FINMA Comes into Action
The Financial Market Supervisory Authority of Switzerland, commonly known as the FINMA is growing stricter over cryptocurrency transactions.
According to the FINMA, it is very important to introduce stricter checks and regulations to deal with illicit transaction activities.
This is the reason why the FINMA wants to introduce extended changes and additions to the ordinance pertaining to Anti-Money Laundering (AML).
With the implementation of the new ordinance on AML, stricter identity checks would have to be carried out. Crypto firms will need to adhere to the new regulation when reporting certain crypto transactions.
The announcement by the FINMA
It was on November 2, when the financial regulator in Switzerland issued a notification surrounding the enforcement of the new regulations.
The financial regulator has announced the implementation of the new regulation confirming it would be enforced with immediate effect.
The regulator has made it clear that the enforcement would come into play as the transaction limit reaches or crosses 1,000 Swiss francs. At the time of writing, 1,000 Swiss francs translate to almost $997.
The new regulation would implement on any transactions or means of payments that are anonymous. However, the regulation is implemented on the virtual currencies being converted to cash in particular.
Adjustments Made According to the AML
According to the FINMA, they have introduced the new regulation after making necessary adjustments to the “already in place” policies.
These policies include the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance of the government of Switzerland and also the Anti-Money Laundering Act of the country.
Numerous Responses on the Threshold
After the FINMA revealed and enforced the new transaction value threshold, it caused unrest in the entire crypto-verse.
The regulator has revealed that they started receiving numerous responses and suggestions surrounding the threshold for the transactions processed involving cryptocurrencies.
However, the financial regulator has decided that it would stand by its enforcement of the CHF 1,000. According to the regulator, it has decided to set the limit to control recent instances of abuse.
They have also taken multiple risk factors in mind before they came up with the threshold.
CHF Limit for 30 Days
As per the new regulation, any account performing a crypto-to-fiat transaction that exceeds the CHF 1,000 threshold in a 30-day period would be reported to the authorities.
It was back in 2020 when FINMA implemented a threshold on cryptocurrency to fiat transactions. At that time, the limit was set to CHF 5,000, which translates to $4,944.
However, in light of the growing cases surrounding illicit transactions and money laundering, the FINMA has lowered the threshold.