As part of the ongoing National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Virtual Assets and Virtual Assets Service Providers (VA and VASP) which started earlier during the year 2022, working groups comprising a number of key stakeholders met recently to discuss their respective risk assessment findings based on the different inputs received from specialised surveys and from other sources.
The sessions, bringing together stakeholders from the Ministry of Finance, the CBS, the FSA, the FIU, the SRC, the FCIU, the AG’s Office and the DICT, are intended to also go over the proposed action plans of the different stakeholders and groups into one consolidated and nationally coherent action plan.
Recommendation 15 (Rec15) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards in relation to New Technologies requires VASPs to be regulated for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) purposes, licensed or registered and subject to effective systems for monitoring or supervision. Since 2019, the FATF has included and amended the terms and requirements for Rec 15 which now illustrates that the application of VAs and VASPs relates to financial activities and the term and definition relating to exchanges and certain wallet providers has been extended to reflect crypto currency, digital assets and virtual currency.
As a result of the Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) conducted by the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) in 2018, Seychelles was deemed non-compliant with the FATF Rec 15. Following such result, the country under the guidance of the FSA along with other relevant stakeholders found it essential to conduct a strategic NRA in relation to the VAs and the VASPs given that such activities are not currently licensed or regulated and in consideration of the ongoing assessment by the ESAAMLG whereby the FSA has a duty to report to ESAAMLG on a bi-annual basis to show compliance to the requirements of Rec 15.
The results of the sessions will subsequently contribute in the preparation of the NRA report that will provide the necessary guidance and key considerations for the establishment of a national policy position on VA and VASP which will itself set out an implementation plan based on the national policy position.
The NRA and the workshops are being funded and facilitated by the FSA and led under the expert guidance of Danny Sanhye, an experienced and qualified consultant within this subject area.
Source: Seychelles Nation