South Africa Proposes New Rules to Regulate Cryptocurrencies, Seeks Alignment With FATF Standards

South Africa is proposing new rules around crypto-asset service providers (CASP) as it seeks to align regulations with standards of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Govender says the “list of CASPs is extremely wide and will cover the majority of CASP businesses operating in South Africa.”.

The amendments, if passed, will see CASPs being treated as “accountable institutions” that must comply with the various regulatory requirements and obligations imposed by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC). Meanwhile, the inclusion of CASP-related proposals in the FICA amendments suggests South Africa is now moving to implement recommendations of a 2019 consultation paper on policy proposals for crypto assets.

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