This is stipulated in article 17 of the regulations that were announced on Wednesday for consultation with the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).
Debtors of the financial system, people related to crimes such as money laundering, drug trafficking, terrorism, being in a state of bankruptcy or having been judicially qualified as responsible for a bankruptcy, are some of the limitations placed by the regulations for those who want to establish a financial institution that offers services related to Bitcoin.
This is stipulated in article 17 of the regulations that were announced on Wednesday for consultation with the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) and which will regulate the entities that will be responsible for providing services and products related to digital currency. in the country.
In this regard, the economist Claudio de Rosa, who was executive director of the Salvadoran Banking Association (Abansa), states that the Banking Law, which regulates the local financial system, stipulates the same requirements, provisions and regulations. which have been set out in the document that will regulate the use of Bitcoin.
“It’s a very normal thing, in terms of the rule there is nothing new here, so it must be,” said De Rosa.
The Banking Law states in its article 11 that a limitation on the provision of financial services is “that it is indebted to the financial system for loans that have been required to have a sanitation reserve of fifty percent or more of the balance, ”the article says, but also says he will be denied permission if he is in bankruptcy or has been convicted of money laundering, drug trafficking, among others.
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Economist Luis Membreño adds that given the limitations indicated in the regulations, Bitcoin is treated as a common and common currency. “It’s like it’s a Euro or Yuan, they’re wanting to apply all the regulations that apply to all dollar transactions, when Bitcoin is essentially a free soul,” he explains.
For Membreño, simply copying a law that already regulates the financial system what it does is “kill the nature of Bitcoin” and will not be attractive to operate in the country
“This is one of the many regulations that the Central Bank will create, because this is just to create exchange offices,” he adds.
For the economist Romel Rodríguez, of the National Foundation for Development (Fon), the line of those who can not provide services related to Bitcoin go against economic freedom, although he emphasizes that “it is for the interest in making things transparent and these people would be exempt from trading in digital currency, when it is not the case with normal currency. “
For Rodríguez, the regulations issued by the BCR seek to make transactions made with digital currency transparent, a condition that is to some extent difficult and goes against the nature of Bitcoin.
Membreño stresses that digital currencies were created not to be regulated by a Central Bank, the Superintendencies or the Ministry of Finance.
“It is a contradiction that all the regulations that you want to apply to the portfolios that handle Bitcoin or that change Bitcoin to dollars, are the same that apply to the other regulations with which the financial system normally operates. “, emphasizes Membreño.
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The regulations state that the origin of the funds, the sums and the route of the transfers must be known, a point that several economists and organizations had insisted that the use of Bitcoin should have.
“The treatment they want to give to Bitcoin is the same as it is given to fiat money (cash or paper), when by its nature Bitcoin can be moved and traded outside the financial system; they want to normalize the use of Bitcoin when technologically they can carry out operations without going through these formalities “, opines Membreño.
He adds that the articulation of the regulations disclosed by the BCR aims to support the security of those who transact with Bitcoin, which is difficult.
“What they are looking for is to make transparent and bring to light the transactions that are carried out with Bitcoin, but there are thousands of portfolios and to believe that it is only going to operate with the portfolios that are operated here, under the regulations here is laughable, ”he warns.
Prior to the announcement of the Bitcoin regulations, on August 17 the Assembly approved reforms to the Law regulating credit information services and gave a period of 7 days for credit bureaus to deliver settlements and the information of the debtors is updated in 15 days.
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