The National Bank of Ukraine has announced a ban on the Lithuanian company Trustee Global UAB from providing financial services through the Trustee Plus cryptocurrency wallet to Ukrainian citizens without the necessary license and authorization. This was reported by the NBU press service, citing Ukrinform.
"The National Bank has decided to recognize the services provided by Trustee Global UAB through the Trustee Plus application as financial payment services requiring licensing and authorization, and has prohibited their provision," the statement reads.
It is noted that during the oversight of payment service providers, the regulator's attention was drawn to the Trustee Plus cryptocurrency wallet. Following a thorough analysis, it was found that the company offers money transfer services without account opening and executing payment transactions with users' own funds.
Comments received by the NBU from Trustee Global UAB do not refute and, in some cases, confirm the provision of financial services to Ukrainian citizens.
The company is required to immediately cease providing the prohibited services and to align its activities with Ukrainian legislation. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in liability under Ukrainian law.
The NBU warns citizens to be cautious when interacting with unauthorized online platforms and to verify the status of financial institutions in the regulator's registers. The regulator cannot protect the rights of consumers using services from unauthorized financial institutions.
As a reminder, in Ukraine, the number of participants in the non-bank financial market decreased from 799 to 791 institutions in August, while the number of banks remained unchanged at 60.