The Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC) has authorised two cryptocurrency exchangers to operate within the area of the Port City, which will be looking to set up regional exchangers to cater to the region, a CPCEC board member said.

Speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) held on Tuesday (24), CPCEC Board Member Saliya Wickramasuriya said: “11 applicants have been approved by the commission as authorised persons within the Port City to conduct operations, out of which two applicants are cryptocurrency exchangers.”

He said that the two exchangers, namely, Bitazza International Limited from Thailand and Scallop (Pvt.) Limited from the United Kingdom – who are already operating in their respective countries – are looking to set up regional exchangers at the Port City to cater to the market in the region.

However, COPF Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva inquired whether the CPCEC had obtained the concurrence of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to allow cryptocurrency exchangers to set up in the Port City.

Wickramasuriya replied to the query by describing engagements the CPCEC had with – and feedback received from – the CBSL, while pointing out that there are no provisions within the regulations of the CBSL administration to approve cryptocurrency operations in Sri Lanka.

However, he said that the cryptocurrency exchangers will be opening bank accounts, should they be allowed to open accounts in Sri Lankan banks in order to conduct their businesses here.

“Those bank accounts would be with commercial banks licensed under the CBSL. Therefore,  those banks will ensure that they are adhering to all anti-money laundering (AML)  and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations applicable to those transactions,” Wickramasuriya explained.

It was also revealed at the COPF that the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and Hatton National Bank PLC also have applied for authorised persons status at the CPCEC to set up offshore banking units at the Port City.