Answer given by Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the Commission
7.8.2017
In July 2016, the Commission proposed to amend[1] the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive[2] (AMLD) extending the scope to custodian wallet providers and exchange platforms. Negotiations between co-legislators are currently in the final stages. The amended Directive will require these players to be registered with their national competent authority and to become ‘obliged entities’ which have to check their customers' identities and report suspicious transactions to financial intelligence units.
On 23 March 2017, the Commission launched an open public consultation on FinTech, including the technology used for VC (blockchain/distributed ledgers) and raising questions about regulatory requirements. The consultation is now closed and the analysis of the answers will inform the Commission's next steps on the subject.
The Commission also invests in technology pilots to demonstrate the use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) such as blockchain beyond applications such as cryptocurrencies, for instance related to managing personal data[3]. As part of Horizon 2020, the Commission intends to launch shortly a prize ‘Blockchains for Social Good’ and a research initiative on distributed ledger technologies with the aim of overcoming shortcomings of this technology and further developing its application. Furthermore, in response to the European Parliament's allocation of EUR 850 000 in the 2017 EU budget for a Pilot Project on DLT to build technical expertise and regulatory capacity on benefits and risks, the Commission is currently working on developing a DLT-based European Financial Transparency Gateway (connecting and making available data listed companies must report to national databases) and a European Blockchain Observatory/Forum.