At Sweetbridge we have At Sweetbridge we have one of the strictest Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering (KYC/AML) procedures of almost any token project. While crypto projects in general, can be joined relatively easily, we require a large amount of information so we can be certain our customers really are who they say they are and exclude bad actors from our network.Some have questioned this approach, but we knew it would pay off in the end. On January 20th, 2020 a directive known as AMLD5 will come into effect that will require the level of detailed identity information we are already collecting. As a SWC holder, you can be confident you are part of a trusted network that is already compliant with the highest regulatory standards.So what is AMLD5?AMLD5 is the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) agreed upon by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.It comes both as part of the European Union Commission’s Action Plan against terrorism announced in February 2016 after the attacks in Paris and Brussels, and as a reaction to the Panama Papers published in April 2016.These factors have been the driving force behind the Directive’s focus on two key areas:To increase the amount of information on ownership of financial accounts accessible to governments and the general publicTo bring further transparency of this information across all member statesRecognising Cryptocurrencies as a formal means of exchangeFor the first time, this European Directive provides a definition of virtual currencies.Under AMLD5, they are defined as a:“Digital representation of value that is not issued or guaranteed by a central bank or a public authority, is not necessarily attached to a legally established currency and does not possess a legal status of currency or money, but is accepted by natural or legal persons as a means of exchange and which can be transferred, stored and traded electronically.”This is a huge step forward, paving the way towards the formalisation of cryptocurrencies into a mainstream market. Its significance has also extended beyond Europe as the G20 has repeatedly expressed its intent to bring the cryptocurrency sector under international anti-money laundering standards. However, with this level of recognition also comes major responsibility.Impact on the Crypto MarketCrucially for the crypto space, the amendments brought about by AMLD5 extend the previous Directive (AMLD4) to now include virtual currencies. One of AMLD4’s main purposes was to push towards full transparency of ownership of financial accounts by ending the anonymity of bank accounts, savings accounts, and safe deposit boxes.The European cryptocurrency market will have to conform to the relevant local AML Regulations of the country in which they are based. This puts the same responsibilities on crypto wallet providers and fiat-to-crypto exchanges as mainstream financial institutions — such as banks, funds, and other entities taking part in the financial markets.Service platforms for cryptocurrency holders will be required to collect the adequate KYC information from their clients to satisfy the beneficial ownership information that will be stored in the national registers and carry out active monitoring for AML.Wallet providers and exchange platforms will have to carry out customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting, as they will then qualify as “obliged entities” in supporting the authorities “to monitor the use of virtual currencies”.What does this mean for Sweetbridge?At Sweetbridge we have been leading the charge around the formalisation of the ‘crypto economy’, working directly with regulators globally. Earlier this year, our CEO, Scott Nelson, met directly with officials from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to bring together our interests and that of the regulators in creating a fair regulatory environment.It is our philosophy to do things in a better way, so that we can create a better way. This means we do all we can to lead the best practices in our industry and we are building a trusted network of good operators who will meet all legal requirements in their jurisdictions who will meet all legal requirements in their jurisdictions. As a result, when building our wallet we designed it to be fully compliant with Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering procedures as a way of ensuring full protection to our customers and SWC holders.The result is we are one of the few AMLD5 compliant wallets available today. When you use the Sweetbridge wallet you can feel safe knowing that everyone you interact with through your wallet has been through our secure KYC/AML process. You can be confident in knowing we operate in a trusted network with government compliance.We hope you enjoy using our wallet as much as we enjoyed making it!Why we’re paying attention to the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) was originally published in Sweetbridge on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.