Due to their anonymity or pseudonymity, digital assets are perceived as entailing the risks of money laundering and financing terrorism. In October 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted changes to its recommendations on financial activities involving digital assets, adding the definitions “virtual asset” (VA) and “virtual asset service provider” (VASP). Since then, the FATF has adopted a risk-based approach to VA activities or operations and VASPs. This new approach includes the supervision of VASPs to ensure compliance in the areas of licensing and registration and preventive measures such as customer due diligence, transaction reporting and record-keeping. It also …

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. Talk about ending a stellar career at the United States Department of Justice with a bang. The DoJ’s first-ever “crypto czar,” Michele Korver, advised government attorneys, federal agents, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council and the U.S. delegation to the Financial Action Task Force on cryptocurrency matters, and she developed cryptocurrency seizure and forfeiture policy and legislation. While she …

The United States’ Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will continue to closely follow the cryptocurrency industry as one of its top priorities for combating crimes like money laundering. FinCEN officially announced Thursday that “virtual currency considerations,” or operations involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), will be among its top national priorities for countering terrorism financing and ensuring proper Anti-Money Laundering policies. “The establishment of these priorities is intended to assist all covered institutions in their efforts to meet their obligations” under related laws and regulations, the regulator said. FinCEN elaborated that it will soon issue regulations to specify how financial institutions should …

The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers against 111 crypto companies that are yet to register with the FCA. Since Jan. 10, all U.K.-based crypto firms have had to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing laws, as well as to register with the FCA in order to operate legally. Many are yet to do so. Mark Steward, FCA’s head of enforcement asserted at the “City & Financial’s City Week” event on June 22, that the unregulated crypto entities pose a threat to consumers, banks, and payments firms who do business with them, noting …

We’re living today “amidst an explosion of risk related to fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and data privacy,” said United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in February — and she specifically cited cryptocurrencies as a “tool to finance terrorism.” Yellen appeared to be flagging an important new turn in the war against terror, and it begged some questions: Is crypto in the hands of terrorists a real, present danger to governments and society? If so, should the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry be worried? Recent evidence suggests that crypto’s role as an enabler of terrorism globally remains relatively minor. “Cryptocurrencies have …

Agustín Carstens, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, has called for even more crypto regulations stating that virtual currencies are a tool for circumventing financial laws. In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, the BIS general manager identified money laundering and terrorism financing as areas that require more robust cryptocurrency regulations. Carstens’s comments, a common refrain among crypto critics, come despite the preponderance of established facts indicating that crypto criminality occupies a minute proportion of global cryptocurrency commerce. According to Carstens, cryptocurrencies have a notoriety for being instruments of criminal activities due to the pseudonymous nature of virtual …

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is toughening its approach to Anti-Money Laundering enforcement with a series of new measures that include trading restrictions, stronger Know Your Customer checks, and specialized blockchain intelligence solutions. The popular exchange, which has an estimated average of 1 million daily users and a daily transaction volume worth 5–7 billion ($4.4–6.2 million), had a troubled 2020 beset by police investigations over allegations of fraud. After a series of reported negotiations with various firms for a potential acquisition, major gaming conglomerate Nexon denied it was planning to acquire Bithumb earlier this year. The Korean Herald today cites …

The Financial Action Task Force says it is set to publish an update to its guidelines on cryptocurrencies and virtual asset service providers; a catch-all term including exchanges, wallet providers, and custody platforms, among others. This updated document will also be made available for public consultation from key stakeholders. According to a circular issued by the FATF on Thursday, the decision to update its guidance on VASPs was the result of the organization’s three-day plenary session. As part of its announcement, the intergovernmental that focuses on policies aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing revealed that the updated guidelines …

Crypto industry actors in Hong Kong have been trying to push back against a forthcoming law that would restrict legal cryptocurrency trading to professional investors, locking out 93% of the local population from the market. In comments to the South China Morning Post published on Monday, industry body Global Digital Finance warned that the proposed law would likely push retail traders to embrace unregulated platforms. Global Digital Finance represents cryptocurrency exchanges such as BitMEX, Huobi, Coinbase and OKCoin and has been at the forefront of industry efforts to push back against the forthcoming legislation. Hong Kong's Financial Services and the …

Against great pushback from the crypto industry and as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has reached new all-time highs several times during the last couple of months, the United States has updated its cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism laws. Related: COVID-19 pandemic spurs crypto law updates in J5 countries The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and the Corporate Transparency Act Last December, the Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act and, as part of that legislation, passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and the Corporate Transparency Act. Related: EU amends AML laws for crypto trading as US …

U.S. Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) has sponsored a new piece of legislation aimed at creating an agency tasked with combating the use of cryptocurrencies in terrorist financing. The bill — H.R. 296 — is co-sponsored by Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Byron Donalds (R-FL), and Darren Soto (D-FL) and was introduced on Wednesday. Apart from creating the task force, the bill also seeks to: “Provide rewards for information leading to convictions related to terrorist use of digital currencies, to establish a Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence Program to encourage the development of tools and programs to …

French financial authorities are strengthening the country’s cryptocurrency regulations in a move to prevent illicit activities like money laundering and terrorism financing. On Dec. 9, several ministries in France jointly introduced an order aiming to prevent anonymous digital asset transactions by banning anonymous crypto accounts. The new regulatory effort is backed by French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, overseas minister Sébastien Lecornu and junior economy minister Olivier Dussopt. The order is pursuant to Article 203 of France’s PACTE law, which stands for the Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation. In the document, the ministries have admitted that digital assets …