OAM Register and Cryptocurrencies
The Ministerial Decree of January 23,2022 was published in the Official Gazzette of the Republic of Italy on February 17 ,2022, outlining the obligations that service providers relating to virtual currency[1] and digital wallet service providers[2] who intend to carry out their activities in Italy must meet.
These obligations are primarily expressed in the following actions:
- Registration in the Currency Register’s special section managed by the Agents and Intermediary Bodies/ Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM)
- Data on cryptocurrency transactions is transmitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
Entry in the Register’s special section
Service providers of virtual currencies and digital wallets must register with the OAM.
Furthermore, such service providers who, on the date of the launch of the special section of the register (scheduled for 18 May,2022) are already carrying out their activity, including on-line, on the territory of the Italian Republic and meet the requirements must notify the authorities within sixty days of the date.
If providers fail to meet the deadlines or the OAM refuses, the activity will be considered abusive. Furthermore, the communication must take place electronically via a private area of the OAM portal.
Following that, the OAM will decide whether to deny or order the registration in the special section of the register within fifteen days of receiving the communication, after verifying the regularity and completeness of the communication and attached documentation.
Timing and data transmission requirements
Virtual currency service providers and digital wallet service providers will have to comply with the following clauses:
- Transmitting by electronic means to the OAM data relating to transactions carried out on the territory of the Italian Republic; the object of the communication is specifically:
- Client’s identification data;
- summary data on the overall activities of each operator.
- After hearing the opinion of the Guarantor for the protection of personal data, the data shall be transmitted on a quarterly basis, within the fifteenth day of the month following the reference quarter, in accordance with the technical modalities established by the OAM with its own implementing acts.
The collected data may be viewed by the Financial Police and other law enforcement agencies in the course of their investigative and policing duties.
[1] Service Providers are those who provide professional services to third parties, including online, primarily for the use, exchange, storage, and conversion of virtual currency.
[2] Digital Wallet Service Providers are those who own a wallet and offer third parties, including online, professional services for the safeguarding of private cryptographic keys on behalf of their customers for the purpose of holding, storing, and transferring virtual currencies.