The Colombian government has issued new regulations mandating cryptocurrency exchanges and individuals to submit cryptocurrency transactions to the UIAF, Colombia’s anti-money laundering authority. The transactions must be recorded using an online reporting system, and the exchanges must release monthly reports on suspicious transactions made by users.
According to “Resolution 314”, cryptocurrency transactions worth more than $150, or transactions involving multiple tokens costing more than $450, must be reported to the UIAF, Colombia’s anti-money laundering authority.
This new regulation, which takes effect on April 1st, aims to increase control over what happens with cryptocurrency assets in the country and to prevent any money laundering and terrorism funding operations from using these assets to go unnoticed.
The regulation also establishes sanctions for exchanges and individuals who fail to follow these rules. If money laundering is discovered in these operations, noncompliant users will be fined between 100 and 400 minimum monthly salaries, in addition to additional penalties resulting from these offences.
According to Resolution 314, the bitcoin national market observed $124 million in transactions in 2019, about 1.7 times the amount recorded in 2018. Because of the sudden liquidity in these markets, the government was concerned about the use of these assets for criminal reasons.
