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Hey folks.

Vanuatu, a republic of Pacific Islands, plans to pass a long-awaited bill pertaining to digital assets and service providers as early as September.

The bill is anticipated to be passed during the first week of Parliament, according to Commissioner Branan Karae of the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC), who made this announcement during his opening remarks at a June 27 digital assets symposium hosted by the nation's financial regulator.

Loretta Joseph, policy consultant for the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC), who spoke at the conference shared that the bill had been for a few years and had been detained consistently because of multiple cabinet changes.

First announced in 2020, the bill will set up licensing and registration requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in the country, which will allow them to work legally with the country for the first time.

According to Joseph, the measure will assist Vanuatu in meeting the requirements established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental entity. Countries are required by the FATF to evaluate and reduce the risks related to cryptocurrency service providers and activities.

According to Joseph:

“The FATF is calling on countries to have legislation around virtual assets. No country in the world can ignore this,”.

Five license classes under the suggested act will cover service providers that furnish a means of exchange between fiat and virtual assets and those that provide custody of crypto, among other functions.

The job of the VFSC will be to monitor the activities of all VASPs and make sure they cohere with the laws related to Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism financing.

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