Tag: kyc

Pakistan Banks Turn to Blockchain Technology to Update Customers’ KYC Details Amid Economic Turmoil

Pakistan’s banks have decided to develop a know-your-customer (KYC) platform based on blockchain technology in order to strengthen the country’s efforts to curb money-laundering. Blockchain firm Avanza Group has been onboarded to create this platform, according to details shared by the Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) which has signed an agreement with the Avanza Group for the initiative. The country is currently witnessing a decline in the value of its fiat currency.

Waqas Mirza, the CEO of the PBA and Muhammad Aurangzeb, the CEO of Avanza Innovations signed the paperwork in Karachi last week. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is also part of this project, as per a Bitcoin.com report.

With a KYC platform that relies on the blockchain, banks will be able to minimise onboarding costs for bank users. When financial transactions are recorded on blockchain, they are stored in an un-alterable format, permanently. This could also increase the transparency in Pakistan’s existing financial systems.

The country is also strengthening its efforts towards counter-terrorist financing and curbing money laundering.

Currently, Pakistan is undergoing a financial crisis. Internally, different parts of the country recently faced a spate of terror attacks. Amid the ongoing recession, the fiat currency of Pakistan sunk to a historic low of PKR 285 (roughly Rs. XXX) against the US dollar last week.

The country has hence, been shifting focus on incorporating blockchain and crypto as part of its financial system.

Pakistan has decided to select and licence electronic money institutions to issue e-money to facilitate digital payments.

In December last year, Asad Umar, the Finance Minister of Pakistan had noted that dabbling in the growing blockchain sector will empower the country’s trade and commerce industries, while bringing its fintech sector in competition with other nations.

In January 2022, Pakistan established three sub-committees to examine the crypto sector from all angles before the nation finalises its stance on crypto legalisation.

Amid legal uncertainties, India and Pakistan, that were the second and third highest adopters of cryptocurrency globally, respectively have fallen to fourth and sixth ranks last year, respectively, according to a Chainalysis report.

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TRAI to Propose Unified KYC System to Check Fraudulent Callers: Chairman PD Vaghela

Telecom regulator TRAI will propose to set up a unified know-your-customer system, which should be accessible by all telecom operators, to check fraudulent callers and spammers, a top official said on Sunday.

Speaking at India Mobile Congress, TRAI Chairman PD Vaghela said it is difficult to find the actual culprit at present who has indulged in fraudulent calls and messages for which the regulator is exploring several mechanisms to resolve the issue.

“There should be a unified KYC (know-your-customer) system. All telecom operators should be able to use it. This we are going to include in one of the consultation papers, which we are going to issue on compulsory caller ID display,” Vaghela said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman said spammers have started using another number after blocking their previous number and using proxy servers, and the regulator is working with service providers to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect fraudulent callers and spammers.

He also said that TRAI will also look to address privacy concerns around people who do not want their number to be displayed when they make calls.

The new telecom bill has proposed up to one-year imprisonment for giving false identity for availing telecom services to check frauds and criminal activities.

The bill proposed to apply KYC for calls and messages sent through internet calling and messaging apps.

In May, it was reported that the telecom regulator TRAI will soon start consultation on framing a mechanism for caller’s KYC-based name to flash on phone screens when someone calls.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received a reference to begin consultation on the same from the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The consultation on this is expected to begin in a couple of months, TRAI Chairman PD Vaghela said then.

 

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KYC Registration Agencies to Report All Cyberattacks, Threats, and Breaches Within Six Hours, Says SEBI

Capital markets regulator SEBI has asked the KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) to report all cyber attacks, threats and breaches experienced by them within six hours of detecting such incidents.

The incident will also be reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response team (CERT-In) in accordance with the guidelines issued by CERT-In from time to time, according to a circular.

Additionally, the KRAs, whose systems have been identified as ‘protected system’ by National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) will also report such incidents to NCIIPC.

“All cyber attacks, threats, cyber incidents and breaches experienced by KRAs shall be reported to SEBI within six hours of noticing/detecting such incidents or being brought to notice about such incidents,” the regulator said on Tuesday.

The quarterly reports containing information on cyber attacks, threats, cyber incidents and breaches experienced by the stock brokers and depository participants and measures taken to mitigate the vulnerabilities, including information on bugs vulnerabilities, threats that may be useful for others, will have to be submitted to SEBI within 15 days from the end of every quarter.

This information will be shared to the SEBI through a dedicated e-mail id.

Last month, the regulator came out with a similar directive for stock brokers and depository participants.

Back in May, 11 international bodies comprised of tech giants like Google, Facebook and HP as members wrote to CERT-In director general Sanjay Bahl, stating that the new directive which mandates reporting of cyberattack incidents within six hours and storing users’ logs for 5 years will make it difficult for companies to do business in the country.

The international bodies expressed concerns that the directive, as written, will have a detrimental impact on cybersecurity for organisations that operate in India, and create a disjointed approach to cybersecurity across jurisdictions, undermining the security posture of India and its allies in the Quad countries, Europe and beyond.

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TRAI Said to Moot Mechanism for KYC-Based Caller Name Display, Consultation to Begin in a Few Months

Telecom regulator TRAI will soon start consultation on framing a mechanism for caller’s KYC-based name to flash on phone screens when someone calls, according to a top official.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has received a reference to begin consultation on the same from the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The consultation on this is expected to begin in a couple of months, TRAI Chairman PD Vaghela said.

“We have just received a reference, and we will start work on this soon. Name as per KYC will appear when someone calls,” Vaghela said.

TRAI had already been thinking on similar lines, but now with the specific reference from the telecom department, work on this will start soon.

“The mechanism will enable name-appearing on a phone screen, in accordance with KYC done by telecom companies, as per DoT norms,” Vaghela added.

The move assumes significance as the mechanism will help identify callers as per their KYC (Know Your Customer) and bring greater accuracy and transparency than some apps that identify callers based on crowdsourcing data.

Sources said that once the framework for KYC based-new mechanism is worked out, the identity establishment will become more clear and legally tenable. It will also have a ripple effect, leading to a clean up of data on crowdsourcing apps as there will be KYC linkages.

Asked whether the process will be kept voluntary, sources said it is too early to discuss the modalities since many aspects will come up for discussion at the consultation stage.

TRAI has also implemented blockchain technology to curb the problem of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) or spam calls and messages.

Experts say that a KYC-based caller identification mechanism would safeguard users against rising instances of spam calls and fraud.

Meanwhile, in an email statement, the caller identification app Truecaller’s spokesperson said: “We welcome any, and all actions in the mission to make communication safe and efficient”.  “Number identification is crucial to ending the menace of spam and scam calls and we, at Truecaller, have been working tirelessly towards this important mission for the past 13 years. We appreciate this move by TRAI and would like to reiterate that we remain very supportive of this and any future initiatives they have,” the company spokesperson added. 

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