FSMA orders registration of exchanges in Belgium

The agency tasked with regulating entities in the financial market in Belgium, FSMA, has announced a new mandate directed towards crypto exchanges. According to the latest Financial Services and Markets Authority rule, exchanges and providers of wallet services across the country would need to start registering their companies. Although the deadline is short, the regulator wants all the companies involved to register their activities before the deadline expires.

FSMA announces registration deadlines

According to the statement of the FSMA, companies just entering the Belgium crypto space to provide crypto services will now register before they can carry out any activity. Notably, this enforcement is not expected to kick into gear until May 1. However, pre-existing companies offering crypto services must alert the financial regulator about their services due to the recently passed law.

The deadline for already established crypto companies has been slated for the next two months before the second half of the year. Aside from giving notice of the type of services they offer to the FSMA, the exchanges are also required to register on behalf of their companies. This deadline has been set for September 1 and will grant the companies a regulated status across Belgium.

Firms will have a unique registration code

According to the update, the firms will need to abide by seven regulations if they will continually operate under the FSMA in the country. The conditions are pertinent to companies with a capital of at least $52,725. The regulator expects all applications to have undergone registration in the next three months, provided the companies provide the needed information. Once a company finalizes its registration, the FSMA will accord a unique registration number to such an entity.

The number will be the identification code the company must provide at every interaction with the financial regulator. The crypto sector in Belgium began to witness a massive push in the right direction following several shouts in favor of the industry. One notable event that established the push was a member of the parliament that decided to take his entire salary in Bitcoin.

That made the member in question, Christophe De Beukelaer, the first politician in Europe to accept his paycheck in digital assets. During his announcement of the move in January, Beukelaer said he would leverage the services of Bit4You, a trading platform in the country, to make the payment. He also encouraged other politicians to follow suit, telling them about the wonder of the crypto sector.