Romania Drafts Bill to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

Romania has drafted an emergency ordinance for ICO issuers, a local news outlet reported Thursday.

The draft, which was released by the Romanian Ministry of Finance, states that groups hoping to launch token sales must have their tax and legal records verified. Following that, each member of the issuing organization is required to be approved by the Romanian National Bank (BNR), according to Business Review.

If approved, the draft would make BNR the sole authority over token sales in the country.

BNR claims it would grant authorization to firms when it finds the applicants have “a formal framework for the management of the carefully designed electronic money issuance activity.”

This framework must include a structure with “well-defined, transparent and coherent responsibility lines,” efficient risk-management processes and “adequate internal control mechanisms” for issuing tokens, officials have reportedly outlined.

The draft ordinance also defines cryptocurrency. It explains that the government sees it as “monetary value stored electronically, including magnetic, representing a claim on the issuer issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of performing payment transactions and which is accepted by a person other than the issuer of electronic money.”

Once in effect, the authorization will only last for a 12-month period. If the approved issuers don’t issue the cryptocurrency before the deadline, they will lose the authorization.

The issuers are also required to perform annual audits and submit their activities of accounts to the BNR. Any unauthorized issue of cryptocurrency is considered as” a crime” and the issuers will be punished with an imprisonment between 6 months and 3 years or by fines.

Romania flag image via Shutterstock