The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, the U.S. financial overseeing agency, published a notice which asks companies to report all of the crypto-related activities that companies make.
According to “Notice 19-24”, which was published on 18th July 2019, all FINRA-registered companies should also register their digital asset activities - buying, selling, or holding crypto resources, and all derivatives based on cryptos.
FINRA`s notice is continuation of their plan for putting digital assets into regulation. The first steps were made in 2018, with the introduction of Regulatory Notice 18-20. In Notice 18-20 FINRA states that the digital asset market has grown significantly and has captured the interest of both institutional and retail investors. In the 18-20 Notice, the deadline for sending FINRA all crypto-related activities by FINRA-registered companies was July 31st, 2019, but with the new Notice 19-24 the time frame increased by a whole year.
The Notice also suggests companies to create a management board for the provision of services related to digital currencies or a company’s involvement into ICOs. Holding, accepting cryptos as a payment method, or even mining should be reported to the FINRA.
The Notice comes after a series of regulatory improvements based on Facebook’s plan of issuing a stablecoin – project Libra. The main concerns about Facebook’s cryptocurrency launch are about privacy and data leaks.
Information about digital asset activity can be provided in written form, including email communication.