Is a crypto-company an accountable person?

A virtual asset service provider is — Article 3 names it in the list of financial institutions.

What does a convertible transfer mean?

An operation performed by digital means to make the asset available to the recipient, by the initiator or on his instruction.

Who must ensure the accompanying information?

The virtual asset service provider, with the content defined by the rules of the supervisory body.

What happens with incomplete data?

The recipient’s provider examines the existence of a ground for reporting under Article 17-1.

Crypto M&A in Tbilisi, Georgia

A Crypto-Company Transaction and Accountable-Person Status

The purchase and sale of a crypto-company in Georgia is not merely a corporate transaction — it simultaneously falls under the regime of the Law on Facilitating the Suppression of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. Article 3 of that law names the virtual asset service provider directly among the financial institutions in the list of accountable persons. This means that a large transaction of an enterprise owning a crypto business takes place under dual regulation: the rules of corporate law determine the transfer of the share, while accountable-person status imposes preventive duties upon it.

Article 2 of the law creates the common language of this regime: accountable person, client, business relationship, one-off transaction, identification, verification, beneficial owner — each of these concepts is defined, and it is on them that the law builds its requirements. For the parties to a transaction this means that in the acquisition process identification and verification procedures, the discovery of beneficial owners and the fixation of the scope of the business relationship are to be expected — regardless of the amount of the transaction.

The Transfer of a Convertible Virtual Asset

The central norm for crypto transactions is Article 17-1 of the law. Under its first part, a transfer of a convertible virtual asset is an operation performed by the initiator, or on his instruction or with his consent, by digital means, to make the convertible virtual asset available to the recipient. In a transfer the initiator and the recipient may be one and the same person, or both parties may be served by one and the same provider.

In the context of the transfer of a business this definition is construed broadly: the movement of assets connected with a change in the control structure of the company is examined with the same care as an ordinary payment. When structuring the acquisition it must therefore be assessed in advance which elements count as a transfer and which requirements arise concerning accompanying information.