On a follow up from the 17 August 2017 when the Australia’s Coalition Government announced a "Crackdown on money laundering and terrorism financing" ,
the bill to regulate Australia’s digital currency exchanges has gained significant support from the Senate committee tasked to review it.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2017 document was published by The Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee last week.
The committee recommended for the bill to be passed. There where, however, some public comments from the industry’s participants suggesting that some provisions in the bill are unclear and could lead to reduced contention in the payment industry.
One of the concerned parties was the Australian fintech company Living Room of Satoshi that enables clients to pay bills with bitcoin.
CEO Daniel Alexiuc wrote, “the proposed legislation will have the effect of requiring KYC procedures of our customers for even very small transactions.”
Bill to Regulate Bitcoin Exchanges Green-Lighted by Australian Senate committee noted that most of his company’s transactions are under AUD$1,000
and that any amounts over $1,000 are subject to full KYC procedures.
“Adding KYC requirements to low-value payments like this would add unnecessary friction and make this payment system far less attractive than using incumbent payment systems, even if they are more expensive,”
he detailed and then elaborated:
The legislation will impact our current business and stifle future innovation in the area of small payments since many of our customers will feel KYC is unwarranted and too much of a hassle for small amounts. This will also reduce competition in the payments industry.
Subsequently, he proposed for the legislation to include “an exemption from KYC requirements for low-value payments,” and suggested for the same threshold of $1,000 for Low-Value Non-Cash Payment Facilities to be used.
There seems to be an influx of Know Your Customer regulations in various countries, to regulate the ever-expanding crypto landscape.