The Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) is the main financial sector regulator, responsible for monetary policy, banking supervision, and payment systems, but no public mandate or published rule extends its authority to virtual assets or crypto service providers Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The Customs Act commodity code (WTI) 1996 SB 1995 no. 111, as amended by SB 2004 no. 79, governs customs and import duties but does not classify or regulate cryptocurrencies as goods or financial instruments Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The CARICOM External Tariff (CET) 2007, applied under the Customs Act, is the tariff schedule for imports and does not reference digital assets or virtual currencies Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No law specifically addressing cryptocurrencies, digital assets, blockchain technology, or virtual currency service providers has been enacted, proposed, or published in Suriname's Official Gazette as of the latest available information Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Suriname is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), which is a FATF-style regional body, but its mutual evaluation reports provide no evidence of crypto-specific AML legislation or supervision in Suriname Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The Central Bank of Suriname has the legal authority to regulate payment systems and financial institutions under its founding charter (Bankwet 1956), but that authority has never been exercised over virtual assets; no extension of the Bank Act to crypto businesses has been published Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

Suriname's anti-money laundering framework is based on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT Act) of 2002, which covers financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions, but the definition of "financial institution" does not include cryptocurrency exchanges or wallet providers Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Suriname is the designated authority for receiving suspicious transaction reports under the AML/CFT Act, but it has issued no guidance on virtual asset transactions or reporting obligations for crypto entities Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No securities or capital markets regulator in Suriname has asserted jurisdiction over digital assets, tokenized securities, or initial coin offerings (ICOs); the Suriname Securities Board does not exist, and the CBvS has not adopted a sandbox or innovation hub for fintech Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Suriname has not adopted the FATF Recommendation 15 (new technologies) amendments into domestic law, and there is no record of a national risk assessment for virtual assets or crypto-related money laundering Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The official stance of the CBvS, as reflected in its annual reports and public statements, does not recognize Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency as legal tender, a currency, or a regulated financial instrument Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Customs authorities, under the Customs Act WTI 1996, exercise fiscal duties such as collecting import and excise duties but have no role in licensing or regulating digital asset businesses Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Suriname is not a party to any bilateral or multilateral agreement specifically on digital assets, and its participation in CARICOM does not create a regional crypto regulatory framework Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No legislative proposal to amend the AML/CFT Act or the Bank Act to include virtual asset service providers (VASPs) has been publicly announced or debated in the National Assembly of Suriname Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No entity in Suriname can obtain a license to operate a cryptocurrency exchange, digital wallet service, crypto custodian, or any virtual asset business because no licensing regime exists under Surinamese law Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The Central Bank of Suriname does not offer any type of license, registration, or authorization for virtual asset service providers; its licensing powers are limited to commercial banks, credit unions, and insurance companies under the Banking and Credit System Act 2011 and the Insurance Act 2011 Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Capital requirements for crypto businesses have never been set, as there is no legal provision mandating a minimum paid-up capital for virtual asset operations; by comparison, commercial banks in Suriname must maintain a minimum capital requirement under CBvS regulations, but no analogous threshold exists for crypto Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The application process for a crypto license does not exist — there is no application form, no fee schedule, no review timeline, and no designated officer or department within any Surinamese authority to receive such applications Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Structural requirements such as local incorporation, physical presence, board composition, or compliance officer appointment for crypto firms have not been established by any law, regulation, or policy document in Suriname Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No timeline or procedural roadmap for obtaining a virtual asset license has been published by the CBvS, the Ministry of Finance, or any other government body Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No entities have been licensed to conduct cryptocurrency activities in Suriname — the total number of licensed crypto businesses to date is zero Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

A business that wishes to operate a crypto exchange in Suriname must either incorporate as a general trading company under the Suriname Civil Code without any special license, or refrain from operating due to the high legal risk of acting outside any regulated framework Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The absence of a licensing regime means that any crypto activity is technically unregulated, but the CBvS has not issued a formal prohibition or cease-and-desist order against unlicensed crypto operators, creating ambiguity about the legality of such businesses Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

There is no special license category for blockchain-based financial services under the Customs Act WTI 1996 or the CET 2007, which are limited to import and export tariff administration Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No joint licensing scheme with CARICOM member states exists for digital asset providers, and Suriname has not entered into any passporting arrangement for crypto licenses from other jurisdictions Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act 2002 (AML/CFT Act) imposes customer due diligence (CDD) obligations on banks, trust companies, money transfer operators, and other financial institutions, but its coverage does not extend to cryptocurrency exchanges or digital asset providers because they are not defined as financial institutions under the Act Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No enhanced due diligence (EDD) requirements have been specifically tailored for virtual asset transactions, and the existing EDD rules under the AML/CFT Act apply only to politically exposed persons (PEPs) and high-risk customers within the traditional financial sector Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Suspicious transaction reporting (STR) obligations are administered by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Suriname, but no reporting channel or form has been created for crypto-related transactions, and crypto businesses have no legal duty to file STRs Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Record retention requirements under the AML/CFT Act (five years for transaction records and customer identification documents) apply only to regulated entities, leaving virtual asset service providers without statutory retention obligations Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

Beneficial ownership reporting is mandatory for legal entities under the AML/CFT framework, but no registry for crypto business owners has been established, and there is no obligation for crypto firms to disclose their ultimate beneficial owners Suriname - Customs Regulations.

PEP screening obligations exist for regulated financial institutions, but crypto businesses are not required to conduct PEP checks in the absence of a legal mandate Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The CBvS has issued binding AML/CFT rules for commercial banks and other supervised institutions but has not issued any directive, circular, or guidance note for virtual asset service providers regarding CDD, EDD, or transaction monitoring Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The FIU Suriname has not published any typology report or red-flag indicators specific to cryptocurrency transactions, unlike other CFATF member countries that have issued such guidance Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

In practice, a cryptocurrency business operating in Suriname has no legal obligation to perform KYC verification, but any bank that processes fiat transfers for such a business may apply its own internal AML policies, potentially freezing accounts due to the unregulated status of crypto Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No enforcement actions, fines, penalties, or arrests have been reported by Surinamese authorities against cryptocurrency exchanges, miners, or traders, as there is no legal basis for such actions under current law Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Central Bank of Suriname has not issued any cease-and-desist order, revocation notice, or administrative penalty against any unlicensed crypto business because no license exists to revoke and no violation can be established under the Bank Act Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The FIU Suriname has not publicly reported any suspicious transaction reports filed by crypto businesses, nor has it referred any virtual asset case for criminal prosecution Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Customs authorities have not seized any cryptocurrency or digital asset-related shipments under the Customs Act WTI 1996, as the Act does not enumerate crypto as a controlled or prohibited item Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No Surinamese court has issued a judgment or ruling on the legal status of cryptocurrency, digital assets, or smart contracts, leaving case law entirely absent Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No tax guidance has been issued for virtual assets.

The Suriname Income Tax Act (Wet op de Inkomstenbelasting) does not mention cryptocurrency, and no ruling from the Suriname Tax Authority (Belastingdienst) has been published on how crypto profits, mining income, or trading gains are classified for income tax purposes Suriname - Customs Regulations.

There is no capital gains tax law in Suriname that explicitly covers digital assets; capital gains on any property, including crypto, are generally not taxed unless the seller is engaged in a business activity, but the treatment of crypto trading as a business is undefined Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The Suriname Value Added Tax (VAT) Act (Wet op de Omzetbelasting) does not list cryptocurrency transactions as a taxable supply or as an exempt supply, leaving VAT treatment of crypto sales, mining fees, and exchange commissions unknowable in practice Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Customs Act WTI 1996 and CET 2007 do not classify digital assets for import duty purposes, and there are no customs valuation rules for transferring crypto across borders Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Tax Authority has not issued any public circular, ruling, or frequently asked questions document addressing crypto taxation, and tax officers receive no specific training for digital asset cases Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

The most significant gap is the complete absence of a statutory definition for "cryptocurrency," "virtual asset," "digital asset," or "distributed ledger technology" in any Surinamese law, regulation, or policy document Suriname - Customs Regulations.

No regulatory authority has explicit jurisdiction over virtual assets; the CBvS's mandate covers "financial institutions" as defined in the Bank Act, which does not include crypto businesses, leaving a jurisdictional vacuum Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

Financial institutions that have crypto clients face reputational and compliance risks because they cannot point to a legal framework for such relationships, and the CBvS might deem such banking relationships as a supervisory concern due to the unregulated nature of crypto Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Businesses operating in the crypto space without a license may face sudden legal reversal if the government passes an AML/CFT amendment or a new law that criminalizes unlicensed VASP activities, potentially with retroactive effect Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

Suriname's continued membership in CFATF creates external pressure to legislate on virtual asset service providers; failure to implement FATF Recommendation 15 could lead to Suriname's inclusion in an "enhanced follow-up" process or gray-listing, which would harm the country's financial reputation Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

Consumers who purchase crypto in Suriname have zero legal protection — no compensation fund, no dispute resolution mechanism, no disclosure requirements, and no prohibition against fraudulent schemes Suriname - Customs Regulations.

International crypto providers serving Surinamese customers may unknowingly violate the AML/CFT Act if they fail to register as a money service business, yet no registration pathway exists, creating a legal trap for foreign entrants Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The Central Bank has not issued a public warning about the risks of using unregulated crypto exchanges in Suriname, leaving ordinary consumers without official risk guidance; unlike many other central banks, the CBvS has made no public statement on the topic Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress.

No transition provisions or grandfathering clauses exist for any future crypto law, meaning that crypto businesses operating today would likely be deemed illegal on the day a new law takes effect unless the government explicitly authorizes the activity Suriname - Customs Regulations.

The absence of an official exchange rate for crypto against the Surinamese dollar (SRD) creates accounting uncertainty for businesses that must report their financials in SRD, as neither the CBvS nor the Tax Authority has designated a reference rate for virtual assets Suriname - Customs Regulations.

Suriname: Background and U.S. Relations | Congress.gov | Library of Congress