The EU determined to take away Cayman Islands from its blacklist of tax heavens on Tuesday.The Cayman Islands is a well-liked jurisdiction for cryp
The EU determined to take away Cayman Islands from its blacklist of tax heavens on Tuesday.
The Cayman Islands is a well-liked jurisdiction for crypto companies. It was added to the EU’s blacklist in February of this 12 months, so it has spent fewer than six months on the listing. In 2019, the six exchanges domiciled there have been answerable for over $1.5 billion in worldwide Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.
Although these numbers pale compared to the worldwide chief — the Seychelles, whose 12 exchanges had been answerable for $36 billion, the Seychelles stay on the blacklist and are categorized as a nation that “doesn’t cooperate with the EU or has not absolutely applied its commitments.” One of many main exchanges primarily based on the Seychelles is BitMex, which just lately ended up within the sizzling water with the U.S. authorities.
Based on Allison Nolan, founding father of Athena Worldwide Administration, an organization that gives governance options to the worldwide funding neighborhood, the Cayman Islands present “sturdy regulation” with stringent know-your-customer and anti-money laundering controls in place:
A part of the sturdy framework for the Cayman Islands is the modern method to the regulation of digital belongings. So, the Cayman Islands authorities enacted the Digital Property (Service Suppliers) Regulation 2020, in Might. It gives for the regulation of digital asset companies and for the registration and licensing of individuals who’re offering digital belongings companies.
Nolan additionally emphasised that the native regulators welcome respectable cryptocurrency enterprise, which she believes helps native companies:
“The main target right here actually is superb for the crypto house, as a result of what it is doing is it is ensuring that there is an oversight when it comes to these suppliers.”
She additionally famous that each one native regulated companies are topic to stringent cybersecurity necessities.
The blacklist was created by the European Parliament as a response to the knowledge contained within the Panama and Paradise papers. It’s unlikely that the newest FinCen leak has figured into the choice to take away the Cayman Islands from the listing (it’s talked about in no less than in 652 transactions). The listing will get up to date semiannually with the subsequent one anticipated in early 2021.