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On July 25, Cyprus will join the Schengen Information System (SIS). SIS is an information exchange system for security and border control. It contains more than 90 million files on wanted persons, missing persons or illegal migrants. In September, the final check of the country for compliance with the criteria necessary for joining the Schengen area should begin. Why is it important? One of the positive aspects is that after joining the Schengen area, holders of a residence permit in Cyprus (including holders of "golden visas") will be entitled to visa-free travel to 27 European countries. Cyprus has been a member of the European Union since 2004, and at the same time assumed obligations to join the Schengen area. In 2014, the Republic allowed holders of a Schengen visa of category C to enter the island, but even neighboring European countries cannot provide a visa-free regime, since Cyprus is still a candidate, not a member. In order for a country to be accepted into the Schengen area, it must meet the following criteria: Protection of personal information The interaction of the Cypriot police with the police departments of the Schengen countries ...

The International Monetary Fund has warned Zimbabwe against implementing a gold-backed digital currency. This decision was taken by the government of Zimbabwe to address macroeconomic issues such as volatility in the local unit. Source:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-09/imf-cautions-zimbabwe-against-plan-for-gold-backed-digital-money The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) began selling gold-backed digital tokens to investors on May 8, setting a minimum price of $10 for individuals and $5,000 for companies. The government hopes this will reduce demand for the US dollar, which is now replacing the local unit as the preferred currency. for transactions. Later, the token will also be used for transactions. "A careful assessment is required to ensure that the benefits of this measure outweigh the costs and potential risks, including, for example, risks to macroeconomic and financial stability, legal and operational risks, governance risks, and the cost of lost foreign reserves," an IMF spokesperson said. The Washington creditor called on the authorities of the South African country to use the usual measures to solve economic problems. These measures include...

From May 1, 2023, the Ukrainian WayForPay service could not accept payments, because the NBU did not issue a new license to FC WAY FOR PAY LLC, which owns the service. Source:https://finclub.net/ua/news/wayforpay-vidnovliuie-robotu-cherez-poserednyka.html The founder and CEO of WayForPay Gennadiy Vasyukov said that the system resumes accepting payments through third-party services. According to him, the company does not know what exactly is the problem with the license. The NBU extended the licenses of 21 companies, the remaining 126 are awaiting a decision. WayForPay is still undergoing relicensing by the NBU. The term of the license is still unknown, but there was no refusal from the regulator. In order to receive payments, current customers were offered to temporarily connect LiqPay or the Raiffeisen Bank service. This will enable you to accept payments via WayForPay; view payment statistics in the office; returns, holds, write-offs will also be available. Technical support of the service promised to help connect to an...

The Montana Senate passed a law to protect cryptomining from discrimination. Source:https://incrypted.com/montana-prinyala-zakon-o-zashite-kripto-majnerov/ Project 37-13 is designed to protect domestic mining and enterprises. It prohibits operators from introducing "discriminatory utility tariffs." And mining companies are protected from taxation on mined cryptocurrency. Supporters of the bill believe that the mining business is good for the state's economy. Mining creates new jobs and brings income to the budget. Of course, there were those who opposed the adoption of the law. Traditionally, their arguments have been that mining is bad for the environment and consumes too much energy. Despite the debate, the bill passed first the state House of Representatives and then the Senate. It was signed by Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on May 2. The law was authored by Dennis Porter and the Satoshi Action Fund. In general, Montana has become a popular region for cryptocurrency mining. Two factors coincided here — low electricity tariffs and favorable climatic conditions for equipment operation. It is important that the state approves the development of the crypto...

The Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading draft law No. 8137 aimed at improving the procedures for the administration of taxation of controlled foreign companies (CFCs). The explanatory note to the bill states that it aims to make the administrative procedures for disclosure of information about controlled foreign companies simpler and more sophisticated, which will ultimately ensure a better balance between public and private interests. What is interesting? Notification of KIK Fines for failure to submit CIC notifications for the period from January 1, 2022 to the date of entry into force of the draft law shall not be applied. The fine for failure to submit a notice of CIC was reduced from 300 to 50 minimums (from 802 to 134 thousand). Please note that a fine has been introduced for late submission of the notification. For each day of delay, you will have to pay 1 minimum (2,684 UAH in 2023), but the maximum fine is no more than 25 minimums. That is, if the notification is overdue by 100 days, the fine will be a maximum of 25 minimum - UAH 67,100. The acquisition of ownership and/or control over KIK must be reported within 60 calendar days. Previously, there was no...

The Executive Board of the World Bank has approved Ajay Banga as President. Interestingly, this is the former CEO of Mastercard. He was Chairman Emeritus of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as Acting Chairman for 2020-2022, and co-founded the Cyber Readiness Institute and served as Vice Chairman of the Economic Club of New York. Source:https://finbalance.com.ua/news/novim-hlavoyu-svitovoho-banku-stav-eks-kerivnik-mastercard "I sincerely congratulate Ajay Banga on his election as the president of the World Bank. Ajay Banga will bring to this important position the necessary leadership and management skills, experience of living and working in emerging markets, as well as knowledge in the financial sphere," said the head of the US Treasury Department. She also added that Ajay Banga is leading the World Bank at a critical moment in its existence: "Ajay understands that the challenges we face - from tackling climate change, pandemics and fragility, to eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity - are deeply interconnected." The candidacy for the position of the head of the World Bank is proposed by the President of the United States, and...

Payments giant Mastercard has announced that it is working on a new set of Mastercard Crypto Credential standards with Aptos Labs, Ava Labs, Polygon and the Solana Foundation. The main goal of the initiative is to strengthen the trust of consumers, businesses and governments in this sector. "Building trust in the blockchain ecosystem is the most important step towards realizing its full potential," said Raj Damodharan, Executive Vice President of Digital Assets at Mastercard. "A new set of standards ensures that those interested in interacting in the Web3 environment meet certain standards for the activities they want to do." The Mastercard Crypto Credential aims to create a set of common standards and infrastructure that will help validate the trustworthiness of interactions between consumers and businesses using the blockchain. While Aptos Labs, Polygon, Ava Labs, and Solana will help bring the standards to app developers in their ecosystems, wallet providers Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin, and Uphold will begin using new tools as part of an initial project to enable cross-border transfers between the U.S. and Latin countries America and the Caribbean. "Together we will...

During the Consensus 2023 event, agency representative Julie Ferster announced the development of new cryptocurrency taxation guidance by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A ready-made document may be released within the next 12 months. Source:https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/04/28/crypto-tax-plan-could-come-in-12-ish-months-says-irs-official/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=headlines The official who leads the Digital Assets Project in the tax office believes that the authority plans to change its approach to cryptocurrencies and work more closely with the industry. However, at this stage, this is her personal opinion and not an official statement from the IRS. "We are working with all of you to get things right and develop a plan. The IRS needs to pay attention to the skills of the people we have today and those we will hire in the future [...] We need the right tools and the right people,” she emphasized. Ferster also drew attention to the expansion of the landscape of cryptoassets, and that this should be reflected in the new rules. She also invited the community to comment on a recent proposal to introduce a tax on NFTs. The US wants...

The sale, which includes long-term mortgages and securities, aims to reduce the mismatch between the bank's assets and liabilities. Source:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-25/first-republic-said-to-weigh-up-to-100-billion-in-asset-sales Potential buyers, including major US banks, could receive guarantees or preferred shares as an incentive to buy assets above market value, one source said. The day after First Republic reported earnings well below analysts' estimates, investors are fully aware of the challenges facing the bank. The lender is trying to bolster its balance sheet to avoid a FDC arrest and clear the way for a possible capital increase, the source said. The source added that the US government may need to assist in negotiations with some of the largest banks in the country to stabilize the lender while it is bailing out. This would be a much cheaper alternative than bankrupting the company. First Republic shares tumbled 23% in early New York trading on Wednesday, after falling on Tuesday halved its market value to $1.5 billion. In early March, the bank's value exceeded $22 billion. In addition to selling assets, the bank also plans to focus on loans...