Last June, the Bank of Spain said it would offer the instructions and documents necessary to submit a registration application between September and the end of this month to platforms offering cryptocurrencies and other crypto products. On this point, the Spanish government reacted by adopting the Royal Decree Law 7/2021, which set the deadlines for registration to comply with the law. The six-month term began on April 29 and ends on October 29. However, the Bank of Spain still has nothing on this documentation, despite the fact that it will be the authority responsible for monitoring compliance. According to legal sources, it will be difficult to complete the regulation by the end of the year, even if the community authorities will move quickly to have it approved by the beginning of 2022.
What is especially urgent is a list of providers of virtual currency conversion services for the safekeeping of fiat currency and electronic wallet regarding the legislation outlined in the Law 10/2020 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. For example, a registration of the entire activity using virtual currency, from sale to safekeeping and archiving. "The Bank of Spain will be competent to supervise compliance with the registration obligation and the honor conditions required for access and maintenance of registration", state the June regulations. Furthermore, the regulations stipulate that this registry, which is expected to be operational by the 29th of this month, will only be set up to combat money laundering. In this case, the question is whether a company that is already monitored by anti-money laundering laws and is therefore already a "duty bound" under those regulations should also be listed on this list, according to legal sources explaining the situation. As a result, several major financial institutions have set up their compliance teams to determine whether or not they are required to be registered to provide these services.