The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Wissanu Krea-ngam has called for more regulations on cryptocurrencies, local news daily the Bangkok Post reports Nov. 8. While Thailand introduced a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies earlier this year, Krea-ngam urged that new measures must be introduced both domestically and internationally in order to keep up with new tactics and threats to consumer security. Speaking at the Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit, Krea-ngam said that experts should not be satisfied with current security protocols so as not to lag behind criminals that would use cryptocurrencies for funding terrorism or money laundering. He also noted the security …

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of the Republic of Mauritius has released a draft regulatory framework for crypto custodian services, according to an official document posted on Nov. 5. According to the announcement, the island country aims to establish regulation for custodian services for digital assets in order to enable users of crypto custodian services to have a due level of safety. According to the draft regulation, the FSC will issue a custodian service license that will allow an entity to operate as a holder of digital assets as well as to function as safe keeper of the assets. In …

Brazilian law enforcement has solicited the help of Bahamian authorities to investigate suspicious transactions to Deltec Bank & Trust – the recently-announced new banking partner of controversial stablecoin Tether (USDT) – major Brazilian newspaper O Globo reports Nov. 6. As per the report, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in São Paulo is on the trail of Paulo Vieira de Souza, a former director of the São Paulo road infrastructure company DERSA. De Souza is currently being prosecuted for bribery in the infamous Odebrecht case, characterized by the U.S. government as “the largest foreign bribery case in history.” As explained by …

Taiwan’s legislature has passed amendments to existing anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism financing (CFT) laws to place new requirements on crypto exchanges. The development was reported by FocusTaiwan, the English language news website of Taiwan's national news agency, on Nov. 2. Under the new changes to Taiwan’s Money Laundering Control Act and Terrorism Financing Prevention Act, the Legislative Yuan — the Taiwan-based unicameral legislature of the Republic of China — has given Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) the authority to bar anonymous crypto transactions. The FSC can now demand that exchange operators require their customers to register using real-names: …

Investigators have reportedly halted the public listing process of cryptocurrency mining machine manufacturer Ebang International on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx), local financial news outlet Sina Finance reported Oct. 14. According to reports, the move was prompted by the firm’s alleged involvement in illicit financial practices. Ebang International operates in the field of Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip design and production, telecommunications services, and the development, manufacture and sale of blockchain processors, or miners. In 2017, the company’s market share reportedly was 11 percent in terms of sales revenue, totalling 9.79 billion yuan ($1.4 billion). The annual profit of …

Troubled cryptocurrency exchange WEX.nz has seen its funds frozen by fellow exchange Binance after users claimed the exchange was involved in money laundering, CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed on social media Oct. 29. In response to an alert by an online trader known as John James on Twitter, Zhao said Binance had quarantined funds sent from wallets associated with WEX. “[T]he identified accounts are frozen, please report to law enforcement and have a case number. We will work with LE [law enforcement],” Zhao wrote in the tweet. “This is part of centralization we hate too, dealing with other exchange's mess (we …

The chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has affirmed that crypto exchanges should face no issues with banking provisions, local media platform Token Post reported Oct. 30. The FSC’s Choi Jong-Ku clarified that banking support would be provided as long as exchanges have adequate anti-money-laundering (AML) safeguards in place and apply robust know-your-customer (KYC) checks. In particular, South Korean banks could offer "virtual" accounts to crypto exchanges that provide an instant system to withdraw and deposit funds, allowing the crypto exchange to conduct those operations without having to directly withdraw and deposit from an actual bank account. Choi’s …

All member states of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) should adopt its recommendation to control the exchange of cryptocurrency, their storage and more, Russian daily news outlet Izvestia quoted a government regulator as saying Monday, Oct. 29. The Paris-based FATF is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 with the aim of developing standards to fight money laundering and other illicit forms of financing. Earlier in October, the FATF announced changes to its standards in regards to digital currencies and businesses involved with crypto-related activities. In its updated guidelines, the FATF notes that virtual asset service providers should be subject …

U.K. businesses and analysts have hit back at government plans to regulate cryptocurrencies and related technology, describing them as a “blunt instrument approach,” British daily news outlet the Telegraph reported Monday, Oct. 29. Calls to step up the level of power the country’s finance regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has over cryptocurrency — which Cointelegraph reported on in September — allegedly focus on consumer protection and anti-money laundering (AML) policy. Now, a joint report from the British Business Federation Authority (BBFA), venture capital fund Novum Insights, and fintech expert Hazem Danny Al Nakib has urged caution about overly far-reaching …

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has given the local crypto industry self-regulatory status, certifying the Japanese Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) to oversee the space, Cointelegraph Japan reports Wednesday, Oct. 24. The FSA expects the self-regulatory body to set rules to protect customers' assets, elaborate on anti-money-laundering (AML) policy, and give working guidelines to crypto exchanges. An unnamed FSA official cited by Reuters thinks that experts from JVCEA could cope better with regulations than a government body, noting that “it’s a very fast moving industry. It’s better for experts to make rules in a timely manner than bureaucrats do.” The …

The Switzerland-based Capital Markets and Technology Association (CMTA) has published new anti-money-laundering (AML) standards for digital assets and distributed ledger technologies (DLT) Oct. 18. CMTA is a non-profit, independent association established in Geneva earlier this year with the aim of promoting the adoption of DLT, such as blockchain, and digital assets in the financial markets. Its creation was a joint initiative from online bank Swissquote, market software provider Temenos, and the country’s largest law firm Lenz & Staehelin. According to CMTA, the newly-published standards are designed to “clarify [...] measures to be taken in order to comply with the Swiss …

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has adopted changes to its standards regarding digital currencies and firms involved into cryptocurrency-related activities, according to an announcement published Oct. 19. Paris-based FATF, also known as Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures to fight money laundering. The FATF has since developed a series of Recommendations recognized as the international standard for combating money laundering (ML) and the financing of illicit activities. In 2015, the FATF introduced guidance on a …