Bitcoin Forum

I am planning to start a bitcoin exchange with 2 others and at this point we have enough knowledge to completely build and run the website but our only concern now is legal issues. Do we need to follow the bitcoin regulations of the countries of all of our users?

I was looking at localbitcoins which is based in Finland but does not do trade with New York residents because it does not comply with the bitlicense. This is what really puzzles me; does a non-US based company need to comply with US law (register as a money services business with FINCEN etc..) in order to trade bitcoins with US residents? Even if that company has no physical presence in the US? Does this apply for other countries as well?

Now I know we will need to consult an attorney eventually but I wanted to know if anyone here has any knowledge on this matter. 

Generally, you must specify on your site that you work on the laws of the State where you are you and act in accordance with its legislation. The easiest way to handle the problem is to look at and study the documentation of a functioning market already. Needless to discover hot water. :)

I don't know about the strict legalities of it, but plenty of foreign exchanges reject NY customers and all Americans. I'm guessing that they themselves aren't 100% sure about where they stand so it's less hassle to simply not allow them on board.