The Romanian Ministry of Finance has drafted a bill which will regulate electronic money transfers in Romania. While it doesn’t specifically mention cryptocurrencies, the Business Review reports that according to the document, electronic money is “monetary value stored electronically, including magnetic, representing a claim on the issuer issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of performing payment transactions and which is accepted by a person other than the issuer of electronic money.”
The bill has not yet been approved. If it gets accepted, this will mean that any legal entity which wishes to make electronic money transfers will need to have a minimum of EUR 350,000 ($409,000) in share capital. It will grant the Romanian National Bank (BNR) authority to approve or deny members based on tax and legal record verification, up to 3 months after their application date.
Electronic money and credit institutions, the European Central bank, and other national central banks are among the categories of firms that the bill states will be eligible for e-money transfers. All transfers will be supervised by the BNR, and they will also be able to issue an authorisation to individuals who wish to create an electronic currency.
The legal entity applying for permission by the BNR will need to fulfil certain requirements. A report from Coindesk states that the BNR will authorize those who have “a formal framework for the management of the carefully designed electronic money issuance activity.” This framework will include “‘well-defined, transparent and coherent responsibility lines,’ efficient risk-management processes and ‘adequate internal control mechanisms’ for issuing such forms of money.” Capital Financial Services SA, Vodafone Romania M-Payments Ltd. and Orange Money Ltd are the 3 current entities with authorization to issue digital currencies.
If authorized, the entities will have a 12 month period to issue their electronic money transactions. If they fail to process the transfers within this time, their application will be rejected. Furthermore, prosecutions of up to 3 years, as well as fines, will be given to those who are found operating outside of Romanian territories, or if the processes endanger the current payment system, reports Bitrazzi. Romania is next in line to regulate electronic currency in Europe, after countries like Switzerland and Lithuania.