Peer-to-peer trading isn’t really my thing, but I heard that there was a deadline for operations recently. Apparently, the emergency declaration deadline was back in December.
I’m kinda lost on how everything works and was hoping someone could share any useful info, just in case I decide to jump back into trading and register later (but not anytime soon).
It's kinda wild that Singapore is also on the compliance list, but I haven’t seen Binance really pushing KYC yet. KYC requirements can include everything from address checks to ID verification and proof of funds, which seems pretty tricky. Plus, there doesn’t seem to be the same level of scrutiny for folks trading jewelry or cash, at least to my knowledge.
this is the registration portal: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/connect
general info about what you'll need to do: https://www.fca.org.uk/cryptoassets-aml-ctf-regime/register
it looks very invasive and tedious.
fortunately, it looks like you only need to register if your trading would be categorized as a commercial business. this is what that determination comes down to:
unfortunately, i doubt there's much info out there establishing exactly what they consider to be "regular/frequent" activity. i'm struggling with the same thing with american/FINCEN regulations---there is a frequency element, but they don't tell you what triggers it.
binance, kucoin, bybit..... none of them are really based in or registered in singapore. more like the seychelles or cayman islands. they just say stuff like that to appear legitimate.
It's very strange because what counts as advertising in a commercial way?
I am in the UK and what if I put a thread saying I'm trading btc for eth with a 1% fee which I profit from, is that commercial advertising?
I think there is about 4 company's with the licence
Gemini and Cex.io I know for sure
If you believe you might meet some of these requirements, but aren't sure, then you can contact an accountant. An accountant, will likely be able to tell you whether you need too in a consultation, and it shouldn't cost you too much. Obviously, if you do fall into the category you can either choose to handle your own finances or get the accountant to do it for you for a yearly fee. Although, I understand wanting to handle your own finances, and not get a third party involved, its sometimes worth the privacy concerns when it comes to not understanding the laws exactly. I prefer to put my mind to ease on certain things, especially when it comes to taxes, and other regulations.
Maybe if you are unsure about it you can just contact them as it is one of the best ways on getting the right answer is through just asking them.
Aside from that the pdf provided in the FCA's website shows that you may seek legal advice which I think you really need to do because even the FCA says that is is up to you to decide on whether or not you are needed to register your business. And if you decided to not register I think it will be handy to you when you are backed up by a lawyer.
If done on a continuous basis to earn non-negligible amounts of money, and you'd keep trading back into BTC to have more for exchanging, then I'd err on the side of caution.
Especially if you're offering to trade the other way, in such a case it's clear you're not trading for personal use, but purely to make money.