Singapore is not interested in getting a status of cryptocurrency hub quickly as the country's financial watchdog called the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MSA) refused to grant licenses to over 100 crypto-related companies out of 176 applications, Nikkei Asia has learned.
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According to the report, the MSA granted only 3 licenses so far (DBS Vickers Securities, FOMO Pay and Independent Reserve), with 70 pending for approval.
While a spokesperson for MAS told Nikkei that the regulator "is supportive of innovation," the watchdog believes that cryptocurrencies "could be abused for money laundering, terrorism financing, or proliferation financing due to the speed and cross-border nature of the transactions."
"Digital payment token service providers in Singapore [...] have to comply with requirements to mitigate such risks, including the need to carry out proper customer due diligence, conduct regular account reviews, and monitor and report suspicious transactions," the spokesperson added.
It remains unclear which requirements the applicants do not comply with. Earlier in September, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, listed Binance into its investor alert list. According to the page description, the list includes unregulated persons who, based on information received by MAS, "may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by MAS."
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