Ukraine will track suspicious transactions

Ukraine's financial regulator plans to monitor cryptocurrency transactions whose amount exceeds $1,200.

Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Makarova recentlygave an interview to MC Today, in which she commented on the bill signed by Vladimir Zelensky last month. The new law is aimed at strengthening AML/KYC practices in the country in accordance with FATF recommendations. 

Among other assets, the regulator plans to track cryptocurrency transactions. The minister said:

If exchanges, exchangers, banks or any othercompanies make payments in cryptocurrency in the amount of more than 30 thousand UAH ($ 1,200), they must check such an operation and collect detailed information about the client. In response, the client must provide information about the origin of their virtual assets.

In addition, Makarova said that financial institutions should themselves develop a system for tracking suspicious transactions. She said:

Bank or financial institution mustindependently establish a financial monitoring system in order to identify truly suspicious transactions and so that you do not have to stop customer transactions without any reason, ask for the same pieces of paper.

There are currently no official statisticsRegarding how much cryptocurrency is in circulation in Ukraine, however, the minister considers these volumes “quite large”. However, according to her, most cases of money laundering in the country still occur with cash.

I think our criminals and corrupt officials are allstill quite conservative and still prefer cash. Therefore, in the legalization of cryptocurrencies, I see opportunities for the development of this area in our country, and not a threat.