Cryptocurrency exchange BuyUcoin has become a Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) registered reporting entity under India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The development comes months after the Indian government, in March 2023, mandated virtual digital asset (VDA) service providers, including exchanges, to comply with the PMLA norms.
These guidelines include reporting suspicious transactions, keeping records of transactions, and KYC records and collaborating with government agencies to ensure the highest level of Anti Money Laundering (AML) procedures and protocols.
For the uninitiated, the FIU-IND is the national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions to enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs.
Commenting on the development, Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, said, “Our registration with the FIU is a testament to our commitment to operating with the highest ethical standards and protecting our customers and the financial system from the risks of money laundering and other. We are committed to working with the FIU and other regulatory bodies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.”
In addition to registering with the FIU, BuyUcoin claims to have implemented a comprehensive AML/CFT, including a customer identification and verification (CIP) programme to verify the identity of its customers, ongoing monitoring of customer transactions for suspicious activity and a robust reporting system for suspicious transactions to the FIU.
Founded in 2016 by Shivam Thakral, Atulya Bhatt and Devesh Aggrawal, BuyUcoin is an exchange platform where merchants and consumers can conduct transactions with digital assets. The startup also was among the first ones to have initiated a regulatory sandbox in 2021 for increased collaboration between regulatory authorities and digital asset industry players.
That same year, BuyUcoin announced the launch of its SIP plan for Indian investors with a choice to invest in over 10 crypto assets. The startup claimed that its SIP platform is highly convenient and helps investors start their SIP in a ‘matter of minutes’.
BuyUcoin’s registration with India’s FIU comes as the country has been batting for umbrella regulations on cryptocurrency and other VDAs to combat money laundering, terror funding and fraudulent activities.
India has also implemented a strict yet vague regulatory framework for digital assets involving stringent taxation laws. Despite regulatory challenges, India recently secured the top spot in Chainalysis’ 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index.
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