Spanish Banks Are Preparing to Offer Crypto Services: Report

Banks in Spain are getting ready to offer crypto services to their clients, but are being frustrated by the lack of clarity from their central bank.

• The Bank of Spain said in June it would provide instructions for entities wishing to register to provide crypto services.
• The corresponding registry is meant to be operational by Oct. 29, but the banks are still waiting for instructions, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Tuesday.
• Specifically, there is uncertainty as to whether the registry – which aims principally to combat money laundering – is designed for financial institutions that are already regulated entities.
• “It would not make sense for a bank to have to go through the requirements imposed, since these entities are already directly supervised,” Gloria Hernández Aler, a partner at regulatory advisory firm finReg360, said.
• “However, it does make sense for them to notify that they are going to provide this type of service and, probably, they will need to change their money laundering policy to adapt it to the dynamics of crypto assets.”
• Lacking firm direction from the central bank, several of the large financial institutions’ compliance departments have set about finding out whether they have to be registered to offer crypto services, El Pais reported.

Read more: EU to Designate Bank of Spain, Securities Regulator for Crypto Oversight: Report