After almost three years, the special section of the will be operational by 18 May register of money changers held by the OAM to which service providers relating to the use of virtual currency and digital wallet services operating in Italy will have to register. The communication must be made electronically through the service present in the private area - subject to registration - dedicated to the portal of the Body for the management of the lists of financial agents and credit brokers. In the light of decree of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance of 13 January 2022, in the event of non-compliance with the deadline or denial of registration by the Body, the exercise of the activity will be considered abusive.
All subjects, already operational, also online, on the opening date of the register (by 18 May) and in possession of the legal requirements (art.17-bis, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree 141/2010), will have 60 days to communicate its operations in Italy and continue to carry out the activity without having to wait for the OAM's ruling on registration in the register.
As regards subjects not yet operational at the date of opening of the register, they will have to communicate their intention to operate in Italy, adapting to the regulatory requirements referred to above, and wait for the decision of the Body to be able to operate legally in Italy.
The OAM will have 15 days to verify the regularity and completeness of the communication and attached documentation and order or deny registration. The 15-day term may be suspended only once, for a maximum of 10 days, if the Body deems the communication incomplete or to be integrated.
The OAM will have to take care of the clarity, completeness and accessibility to the public of the data reported in the special section of the register in which the following will also be noted: the surname and first name of the service provider relating to the use of virtual currency or of the digital wallet service provider natural person or the company name and registered office or the headquarters of the permanent establishment in the territory of the Republic in the case of a person other than a natural person; the indication of the type of service provided, the address of the physical operating points, including any automatic teller machines (ATMs), and/or the web address through which the service is provided.
Finally, the OAM will provide, upon request, all information and documentation held in light of the management of the special section of the register to all the institutional subjects involved in the fight against money laundering and to the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate.
Among the data that may also be requested are those relating to the operations carried out by registered subjects in the territory of the Italian Republic: customer identification data, summary data relating to the overall operations of each service provider relating to the use of virtual currencies and service provider of digital wallet for each customer.
