{"id":5561,"date":"2022-04-18T18:21:36","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T18:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines"},"modified":"2022-04-18T19:55:54","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T19:55:54","slug":"crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines","title":{"rendered":"Crypto operators face licensing deadline, steep fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Cryptocurrency operators active in the local market have until May 25 to secure operating licences from the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority or face fines of up to P250,000 and\/or five years in jail, BusinessWeek can reveal.<\/b><\/p>\n

This comes as the Virtual Asset Act and its regulations came into effect on February 25, with a grace period of three months for operators to regularise.<\/p>\n

The new Act and its regulations make Botswana one of a handful of countries in the world to attempt to regulate the multi-billion pula crypto market. Parliament passed the Act in an emergency sitting in February as part of a wide-ranging effort to plug loopholes in the country\u2019s money-laundering and financing of terrorism response.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntities offering virtual assets business that do not become licensed within the specified timeframe granted by the Act will be considered illegal operators after May 25, 2022,\u201d NBFIRA\u2019s communications and international affairs, Boa Ntebele told BusinessWeek.<\/p>\n

Under the Act, anyone who carries out an illegal virtual asset business or contravenes the act where no specific penalty is provided is\u2002liable\u2002to\u2002a\u2002fine\u2002not\u2002exceeding\u2002P250,000, imprisonment\u2002for\u2002a\u2002term\u2002not\u2002exceeding\u2002five\u2002years,\u2002or both.<\/p>\n

Anyone who knowingly fails to disclose any fact or information required by the Act is liable\u2002to\u2002a\u2002fine\u2002not\u2002exceeding\u2002P100,000, imprisonment\u2002for\u2002a\u2002term\u2002not\u2002exceeding\u2002two\u2002years, or both.<\/p>\n

Destroying, concealing or falsifying physical or electronic information relevant to the NBFIRA\u2019s supervisory mandate can be fined up to P1 million, imprisoned for not more than eight years, or both.<\/p>\n

Cryptocurrency and virtual token operators wishing to secure licences will be required to provide extensive details on owners, investors, technical and financial expertise and maintain adequate capital, among other requirements. NBFIRA also requires an application fee of P5,000.<\/p>\n

Ntebele told BusinessWeek the regulator had received several enquiries regarding licensing requirements but no applications had been received as yet.<\/p>\n

Asked what success NBFIRA expected to achieve in regulating a sector whose major players are located outside the country and who mainly do not operate from physical addresses, Ntebele said the regulator would work with its international peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSection 3(b) of the Act states that it applies to \u2018any person carrying on a virtual asset business irrespective of the physical location from which the activity is carried out\u2019. \u201cSolid collaboration between regulators of virtual asset service providers in different countries will be important, especially in instances where such platforms or operators are also licensed in other countries. \u201cThe Authority will, therefore, work closely with its regulatory peers in matters involving operators based outside the country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ntebele added: \u201cThe Authority is currently doing the requisite groundwork in preparation for implementing the Virtual Assets Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBFIRA recently partnered with the Botswana Investment Professionals Society to raise awareness on cryptocurrency and forex scams, which are reportedly trapping high numbers of victims in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had complaints about people putting in thousands of pula into an electronic platform somewhere with people that they did not know and at some point, they seemingly get returns which entices them to put more money,\u201d Juliana White, NBFIRA\u2019s Capital Markets director previously told BusinessWeek.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Cryptocurrency operators active in the local market have until May 25 to secure operating licences from the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority or face fines of up to P250,000 and\/or five years in jail, BusinessWeek can reveal. This comes as the Virtual Asset Act and its regulations came into effect on February […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-5561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nCrypto operators face licensing deadline, steep fines - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cryptocurrency operators active in the local market have until May 25 to secure operating licences from the Non-Bank ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crypto operators face licensing deadline, steep fines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cryptocurrency operators active in the local market have until May 25 to secure operating licences from the Non-Bank ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-18T18:21:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-18T19:55:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/04\/img-625dc2313820e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Crypto operators face licensing deadline, steep fines\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-18T18:21:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-18T19:55:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/04\/img-625dc2313820e.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/crypto-operators-face-licensing-deadline-steep-fines\",\"name\":\"Crypto operators face licensing deadline, steep fines - 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