The Indian government reportedly plans to finalize its stance on the legality of cryptocurrencies by the first quarter of next yearto comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).in order to comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).” We will finalize our response by February-March 2023; we must respond to the FATF by May,” a government official said.
India will finalize its stance on crypto
The Indian government is finalizing its stance on the legality of cryptocurrencies in order to submit a response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the country’s “mutual assessment” by early 2023, Business Today reported on Monday.
“The Revenue Department has already sent their views and the Ministry of Economic Affairs has now been ordered to prepare a detailed response on India’s stance on the legality of cryptocurrencies,” a government official was quoted as saying.
The FATF Mutual Evaluation is a “detailed country report analyzing the implementation and effectiveness of measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing,” the website details.
Government officials further told the magazine.
One of the questions we have to answer is about the legality of cryptocurrencies, since we have already started taxing them. We will finalize our answer by February-March 2023; we have to answer it to the FATF by May.
In addition, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) report is due in October. It will help the Indian government decide whether to ban cryptocurrency trading or provide a legal framework for dealing with crypto trading in India, Outlook India reported Monday, citing a senior government official.
The official was quoted as saying.
We are waiting for the (FSB) report which will be important in terms of cryptography law. We also hope it will address how to deal with (crypto) wallet transfers.
“We will take a position on whether to ban wallet transfers, depending on what the report suggests. The legal part is still a work in progress; when we levied the tax (in the 2022 budget), we made it clear that the legislation was still in the works. To a significant extent, this report will help resolve the legislative aspect,” the official further elaborated.
India is currently not FATF compliant with respect to crypto assets as the international money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog requires countries to have a clear stance on the legality of crypto assets.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently chaired a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) where issues related to crypto assets were discussed. The Council stressed the urgent need to reach a clear consensus on the legality of cryptocurrencies.
The Finance Minister also recently met with Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and urged the IMF to take a leading role in regulating crypto assets.
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