user117: One of the main perceived difficulties in getting started with Bitcoin is obtaining some in the first place.
Naturally, for an exchange to be accepted into the mainstream it needs to be a recognised and approved legal entity within the country it is operating in. 
So my question is this - what are the legal processes that someone would have to go through in order to get a Bitcoin exchange operational?
If possible, it would be useful to have each answer target a particular country with suitable edits to become a solid reference. 

user26: None, but in order to instill trust with the traders getting a proper business license and showing and aptitude for Internet security will help.

user33: As Bitcoin is not a legal tender there is very little you have to do.

You do not require to be authorized by the financial authority.
It would involve a regular tax rate no special rate as they are not defined as a special value by any government. (Even this may be difficult for them)
The exact same process would be involved as there would be for any other business operational in your country of choice.

This is correct at this time it may in time change. I cant speak for everywhere in the world but im rather positive this applies to the western world.
There is nothing to stop you registering a business and selling bitcoins as you would any other product.
Im UK.

user916: The issue is not so much with the exchange itself but with the national currency bank accounts and payment mechanisms that provide for the two-way conversion into and out of the exchange. We must distinguish between floating-rate and fixed-rate exchanges. In the former, customers are placing funds to be held at the exchange. In the latter, customers are making an immediate one-time purchase. It is similar to the difference on eBay between auction bids and the "Buy It Now" button.
A floating-rate exchange has to become a licensed entity itself or it has to contract with a third-party entity that is licensed to hold and segregate the customer funds. Currently, a fixed-rate exchange does not have to worry about that because they are not holding customer funds and they are selling a harmless crypto "math puzzle" or RPOW at a certain price known in advance.
Regarding jurisdiction on floating-rate exchange operators, I can only speak to the US and EU jurisdictions. The US is covered by Money Service Business regulations under the Department of the Treasury http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/  whereas the EU is covered under the newly-revised e-Money Directive http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/emoney/index_en.htm
Also, bear in mind that test cases have not been brought forward that specifically deal with the bitcoin exchange issue; however, some preliminary statements and guidance have suggested that this is how floating-rate exchanges will be interpreted by the respective jurisdictions and the banks are following that guidance.

user22: At the present moment, no country recognizes bitcoin as actual "currency" so the laws for exchanging, buying, selling or trading in bitcoin are exactly as they would be for simply setting up a shop. For legal purposes, pretend bitcoins are any other object, let's say a chair...
If you set up a web site that exchanges chairs for USD and you sell enough chairs, you'll probably need a business license, it would probably be smart to incorporate your chair-selling business at some point as well. If you "mine" (assemble?) chairs then you have a cost of production and you make a profit. If the profit exceeds some amount which your state/country has established then you must pay taxes on those profits. Transactions which take place using bitcoin are essentially barter transactions: whatever laws would apply if you traded an equally-valued number of chairs for that XBox 360 apply to purchasing it with bitcoins as well.
I qualify all of this with "at the present moment" because it's all quite likely to change at some point. Bitcoin is only unregulated at the present time because lawmakers are, for the most part, unaware of its presence. Once they become aware, wheels turn slowly but eventually new legalities will inevitably spring up around the bitcoin community. If you intend for your exchange to last for more than a few years it may be worthwhile to set up shop offshore in a country like Panama, where the laws are more favorable to exchanging currency.
Edit: I must also mention that bitcoins may be recognized as a "value store" without being recognized as a currency. I am not a lawyer so this should not be taken as legal advice. If you have concerns about the legality of any service you wish to run, you should contact a lawyer - though even this is of questionably little help since at present there is not (to my knowledge) any precedent for just about anything we do with Bitcoin. As with all young technologies, expect legislation to spring up around it and expect things to change soon and often.

117: <p>One of the main perceived difficulties in getting started with Bitcoin is obtaining some in the first place.</p>

<p>Naturally, for an exchange to be accepted into the mainstream it needs to be a recognised and approved legal entity within the country it is operating in. </p>

<p>So my question is this - what are the legal processes that someone would have to go through in order to get a Bitcoin exchange operational?</p>

<p>If possible, it would be useful to have <strong>each answer target a particular country</strong> with suitable edits to become a solid reference. </p>
 26: <p>None, but in order to instill trust with the traders getting a proper business license and showing and aptitude for Internet security will help.</p>
 33: <p>As Bitcoin is not a legal tender there is very little you have to do.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You do not require to be authorized by the financial authority.</p></li>
<li><p>It would involve a regular tax rate no special rate as they are not defined as a special value by any government. (Even this may be difficult for them)</p></li>
<li><p>The exact same process would be involved as there would be for any other business operational in your country of choice.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>This is correct at this time it may in time change. I cant speak for everywhere in the world but im rather positive this applies to the western world.</p>

<p>There is nothing to stop you registering a business and selling bitcoins as you would any other product.</p>

<p>Im UK.</p>
 916: <p>The issue is not so much with the exchange itself but with the national currency bank accounts and payment mechanisms that provide for the two-way conversion into and out of the exchange. We must distinguish between floating-rate and fixed-rate exchanges. In the former, customers are placing funds to be held at the exchange. In the latter, customers are making an immediate one-time purchase. It is similar to the difference on eBay between auction bids and the "Buy It Now" button.</p>

<p>A floating-rate exchange has to become a licensed entity itself or it has to contract with a third-party entity that is licensed to hold and segregate the customer funds. Currently, a fixed-rate exchange does not have to worry about that because they are not holding customer funds and they are selling a harmless crypto "math puzzle" or RPOW at a certain price known in advance.</p>

<p>Regarding jurisdiction on floating-rate exchange operators, I can only speak to the US and EU jurisdictions. The US is covered by Money Service Business regulations under the Department of the Treasury <a href="http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/" rel="nofollow">http://www.fincen.gov/financial_institutions/msb/</a>  whereas the EU is covered under the newly-revised e-Money Directive <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/emoney/index_en.htm" rel="nofollow">http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/emoney/index_en.htm</a></p>

<p>Also, bear in mind that test cases have not been brought forward that specifically deal with the bitcoin exchange issue; however, some preliminary statements and guidance have suggested that this is how floating-rate exchanges will be interpreted by the respective jurisdictions and the banks are following that guidance.</p>
 22: <p>At the present moment, no country recognizes bitcoin as actual "currency" so the laws for exchanging, buying, selling or trading in bitcoin are exactly as they would be for simply setting up a shop. For legal purposes, pretend bitcoins are any other object, let's say a chair...</p>

<p>If you set up a web site that exchanges chairs for USD and you sell enough chairs, you'll probably need a business license, it would probably be smart to incorporate your chair-selling business at some point as well. If you "mine" (assemble?) chairs then you have a cost of production and you make a profit. If the profit exceeds some amount which your state/country has established then you must pay taxes on those profits. Transactions which take place using bitcoin are essentially barter transactions: whatever laws would apply if you traded an equally-valued number of chairs for that XBox 360 apply to purchasing it with bitcoins as well.</p>

<p>I qualify all of this with "at the present moment" because it's all quite likely to change at some point. Bitcoin is only unregulated at the present time because lawmakers are, for the most part, unaware of its presence. Once they become aware, wheels turn slowly but eventually new legalities will inevitably spring up around the bitcoin community. If you intend for your exchange to last for more than a few years it may be worthwhile to set up shop offshore in a country like Panama, where the laws are more favorable to exchanging currency.</p>

<p><em><strong>Edit</strong>: I must also mention that bitcoins <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5627.msg82745#msg82745">may be recognized as a "value store"</a> without being recognized as a currency. I am not a lawyer so this should not be taken as legal advice. If you have concerns about the legality of any service you wish to run, you should contact a lawyer - though even this is of questionably little help since at present there is not (to my knowledge) any precedent for just about anything we do with Bitcoin. As with all young technologies, expect legislation to spring up around it and expect things to change soon and often.</em></p>
