The Czech Republic is expected to enforce stricter oversight of cryptocurrencies than that required by the European Spousal relationship's bloc-wide Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulatory government.

According to a report from local paper Hospodářské Noviny on Aug. eight, the Czech Commonwealth's transposition of the European Spousal relationship (EU)'southward Fifth AML Directive (AMLD5) looks gear up to impose nevertheless stricter requirements on cryptocurrency firms than those established past Brussels.

Higher up and beyond EU regulations

Equally an indication of the stringent measures alee, Hospodářské Noviny reveals that Czech regulators plan to impose a hefty fine — up to half a million koruna or roughly $xx,000 — on cryptocurrency firms should they neglect to register their operations with the national Merchandise Licensing Office.

Such a measure would go well beyond that which is required by the Eu'due south Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which came into force in July 2018 and established a revised legal framework for EU financial watchdogs to regulate cryptocurrencies and improve mitigate the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing (CFT).

AMLD5 notably extends the scope of regulatory oversight to crypto exchanges and wallet providers and enforces stricter transparency requirements directed at anonymous payments — whether made via exchanges or prepaid cards.

While Hospodářské Noviny does non reveal a timeline for the Czech government's formalization of both AMLD5 and its additional rules, Eu member states are compelled to incorporate the directive into their respective national laws past Jan. twenty, 2020.

The written report further notes that Czech lawmakers' AML rules will touch on firms for which the EU's draft provisions would not crave such all-encompassing oversight. Hospodářské Noviny argues that such impositions are likely to jeopardize the competitiveness of the nation'due south crypto sector.

Zeal of the convert

This is not the starting time fourth dimension that various countries' interpretations of AMLD5 has exceeded the directive's original scope.

This June, Money Heart — a nonprofit research and advocacy heart focused on crypto-related public policy problems — urged Her Majesty'south Treasury not to over-broaden the scope of the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland'southward AML/CFT rules in its transposition of the EU directive.

In February, the Cyprus Securities and Commutation Committee has similarly proposed to bring several additional areas of crypto-related activeness under AML/CFT obligations, which are notably non included in the provisions of AMLD5.

Update: 08:00 EST: The original version of this article stated the fine amount in Euros. It has been corrected to Czech koruna and dollar equivalent.