It was announced today from a client of Bitstamp, the EU-regulated bitcoin exchange has started asking new AML questions in regards to Euro deposits. You can see the email text below and judge the series of questions for yourself.
The email from BitStamp to clients states:
“We would like to inform you that we received a deposit transfer designated for your Bitstamp account and instructed our payment department to further process it. Once funds are added to your Bitstamp account you should be notified by email.
As our compliance department requires some information regarding the nature of your relationship with Bitstamp, we would however kindly as you to answer the following KYC (know your customer) questionnaire.”
Questions to users are listed below:
1. What is your current occupation?
2. What is the purpose of your Bitstamp account? Describe as much detail as possible how you are using your trading account.
3. Are you using your Bitstamp account in connection with any business/commercial related activities? If yes, please describe how?
4. Do you have an established relationship with ay other bitcoin-related service/exchange? If yes, which?
5. What is the source of funds deposited to your Bitstamp account? Please provide any financial documentation which can confirm how fund sent to your Bitstamp account are being acquired.
6. What is the purpose and destination of your bitcoin withdrawals?
7. Which bank account(s) do you intend to use with your Bitstamp account for fiat deposits/withdrawals? Provide complete account number, account owner information, bank address and SWIFT/BIC codes.
8. What is the estimated amount you intend to deposit/withdraw to/from your Bitstamp account per month (in USD/BTC)?
If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to ask.
We look forward to your reply.
There have been no reports of funds returned due to issues with answering these questions, most replied are probably one-liners and accepted as such. It looks as if Bitstamp is preparing for any possible regulations down the road which would require the exchange to keep KYC records on file. We will have updates on the new AML questions as they become available, so far there has been no official statement from Bitstamp.