FSC promotes the trial of 'virtual asset custody business'! Acceptance of applications will start on New Year's Day, and 5 banks are interested.

To comply with international trends and promote financial innovation, the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan announced on November 28th the launch of a themed trial for the 'Virtual Asset Custody Business,' opening it for financial institutions to apply for the trial. It is anticipated that applications will be accepted starting from January 1, 2025. According to the Commission, 5 private banks have expressed interest, and the first trial is expected to be implemented in the first half of next year.

Review period of 2 months, trial period of 6 months

For operators interested in participating in the trial of the 'virtual asset custody business', the Financial Supervisory Commission stated that they can now submit a request for guidance. The official acceptance period for trial applications is from January 1, 2025 to April 30. After the review, a list of approved operators will be announced.

The FSC stated that "the review process is expected to be completed in 2 months", and operators can also apply for guidance first, "the trial period is 6 months".

No qualification restrictions for applicants

As for whether it will be fully launched in the future, it will depend on the results of the trial operation. The FSC also mentioned that the experience of the trial operation this time will also serve as an important reference for formulating relevant regulations and policy promotion in the future.

The Financial Supervisory Commission's Compliance Division pointed out that the scope of applicants for trial runs can be expanded from banks and securities firms to the financial industry, Financial Institutions, and collaborators in the financial technology industry. There are no restrictions on the qualifications of applicants, and the main focus is on evaluating the security and risk management capabilities of the industry players.

"Virtual Asset Custody" does not include tokenization assets, Non-fungible Token

The FSC emphasizes that the scope of 'virtual asset custody business' is limited to virtual currency, such as BTC, Ethercoin, and other cryptocurrencies, excluding RWA tokenized assets, Non-fungible Tokens, etc. The target customers are mainly 26 VASPs that have completed the Money Laundering Act compliance declaration. Foreign VASPs can also apply for custody.

According to the explanatory materials published by the FSC, applicants for the trial of virtual asset custody business must provide and explain 7 types of information, including: custody mode, customer service related planning, regulatory compliance, organizational division of labor and management system, security planning, asset segregation and financial accounting system.

The Financial Supervisory Commission promotes the trial of 'virtual asset custody business'! Acceptance of applications will start from New Year's Day next year, and 5 banks are interested. This article was first published in 'Blocktempo'.