New electronic money regulations came into force on 5 August.
The new regulations are:
- only authorise banks to issue e-money. All other
businesses issuing e-money in Ukraine have one year to either
cease their activities or enter into an e-money distribution
agreement with a bank.
- do not cover plastic card payment systems (such as Visa
or MasterCard) or online payment services (such as PayPal or
Portmone).
- prohibit anyone other than banks (and businesses who have
entered into an e-money distribution agreement with a bank)
from receiving e-money in exchange for monetary and
non-monetary funds.
- require all e-money to be in Ukraine's national
currency (hryvnia), except for money loaded onto pre-pay
payment cards.
- include anti-money-laundering provisions limiting all
e-money transactions and amounts stored on electronic devices
(such as a plastic card or computer memory) to 5,000
hryvnias.
- require all banks issuing e-money to submit their rules
governing e-money systems to the National Bank of Ukraine for
approval within 6 months.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 07/08/2008.