Every year more and more crypto organizations appear worldwide, so government agencies in different countries are looking for new opportunities to learn how to regulate this vast industry. Some completely prohibit any activity (as India or China does), while others, on the contrary, give them complete freedom. However, most developed countries are learning to regulate crypto organizations to enable them to grow and, at the same time, protect their citizens from potential scammers. If you are ready to work legally, you should get a crypto currency exchange license. To do this, you need to create a relatively large document package, and the required papers in each jurisdiction may vary significantly. Today we want to discuss what documents are most often requested by government agencies and how best to issue them.
Business plan
Before registering an organization, you must decide on the business model, what services you will provide, where to get funding, what software to use, and much more. All aspects of your work should be reflected in the business plan. It will be good if your organization’s development strategy for 2-3 years is fully described here.
The classic business plan you develop to attract investors is inappropriate for government agencies. Here you should pay more attention to risk assessment and issues preventing money laundering, financial terrorism, and fraud.
It takes work to create a business plan. Please involve independent specialists who will tell you which aspects you need to pay attention to first.
You also need to prepare the statutory documents, which will contain data on the authorized capital of the organization, investments, and key employees (how many people work in the company, how many shareholders, and much more).
Details of all owners and shareholders
Your organization should have people with an excellent reputation, work experience, and specialized education on its staff. Please prepare in advance resumes of all key employees and shareholders indicating education, where they previously worked, and much more. The more detailed dossier you prepare for your employees, the better. Also, there should be copies of your passport and other papers (sometimes you need to attach copies of diplomas or recommendations from a previous job).
In addition, people who have previously had problems with the law should not work in your organization. Yes, you must prepare a criminal record.
If you or your team members are foreigners, copies of their documents must be in two forms – in the original and translated into the official language of the country where you want to obtain a work permit. All papers must be notarized.
Risk assessment
Before you apply for a license, you need to do a comprehensive risk assessment. For such an audit, it will be good to invite independent experts to check what risks your users, employees, and others may face.
The risk assessment should also analyze your software, how well-protected it is, and what vulnerabilities exist that scammers can use to get their hands on customers’ personal information.
Local office address
Some countries, such as Estonia or Lithuania, require licensed companies to have a physical office on their territory. So, you need to rent a room for at least 1 year and provide the relevant document.
This office should employ a local anti-money laundering specialist and keep all the necessary documentation about your organization’s work. You should establish office hours that your users or government agencies can contact if they have questions about the operation of your organization.
You also need to specify a site with a local domain in the country’s official language where you want to get a work permit. Your platform can serve not only residents of this country but also all European countries.
AML Policy
Your organization cannot be used for money laundering, so you must develop sustainable mechanisms to combat this phenomenon. These mechanisms should be well described in an appropriate document.
So, each client who registers on your platform must provide documents confirming the identity and place of residence and pass verification. If this person has previously been involved in fraud or money laundering, you can deny them service.
In addition, you must store all information about your customers and transactions, so you must have a sufficiently large storage. If you notice suspicious activity, you must report it to the relevant authorities. In addition, inspectors should be able to access the necessary data upon request. If you refuse to provide information, you may lose your license.
Compliance with the AML policy must be approached as responsibly as possible because it depends on whether you can get a work permit.
Bank account and payment of fees
You will also need to provide paperwork that confirms that you have opened an account with a local bank. You can choose any bank that operates in the territory of the selected country. Many institutions refuse crypto organizations because this business is associated with many risks. Please apply to several banks at once and choose the one that offers the most favorable conditions.
Your account must have the entire authorized capital in full. It will be good if this is credited to the account in one payment.
To get a license, you need to pay a fee. Each jurisdiction determines the amount of this fee. It does not depend on the size of your organization. You need to provide a document that confirms that you have paid the fee.
How to make paperwork easier?
It is worth remembering that the above document list is incomplete and may vary greatly depending on your chosen jurisdiction. So, it would be best if you asked for help from the specialists of our company in advance, who will conduct a full consultation on what package of documents is required by the country you have chosen.
Our experts will help you with the following:
- Determine what papers you need to get;
- Check the correctness of filling in the papers;
- Help create the right business plan and risk assessment;
- Check your organization’s readiness for licensing.
Please issue a power of attorney for our specialists. Then they will be able to represent your interests in various institutions (for example, in a bank) and collect all the necessary papers without your participation. It is very convenient if you do not plan to come to another country and want to do everything remotely.
Our specialists cooperate with residents and foreigners who want to open crypto exchanges. They are well aware of the peculiarities of such a business, so they will tell you what changes need to be made so that your product fully complies with all the requirements of regulators.
In the end
If you want to get a work permit, you must be prepared because this is a rather complicated process requiring specific knowledge. It is difficult to independently collect the entire package of documents and draw them up correctly, especially if you do not have a legal education. The specialists of our company have extensive experience. They know precisely how to create a package of documents so that the state authorities would not have the thought of refusing to license you.
