FATF To Put Focus on Cryptos, Review Anti-Money Laundering Rules During US Presidency
The Financial Action Task Force released its working program on digital coins, which will come into force during the US Presidency of the intergovernmental organization.
Cryptocurrency has been chosen as one of the top three priorities during the US Presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international standard-setting body for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. FATF also plans to review its global recommendations to analyse how virtual coins can be fitted, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report, released as part of FATF’s commitments ahead of this week’s G20 Summit of the finance ministers and central bank governors in Argentina, had several crypto measures, including a new a program on cryptocurrencies.
FATF developed the program after the G20 call from March this year and will put it in place during the US Presidency of the organization, from July 1, 2018 until June 30, 2019.
“Under the US presidency, FATF will prioritise work on preventing the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; expand the current emphasis on combating terrorist financing and foster improvements in the regulation and supervision of virtual currencies/crypto-assets, “ FATF said.
FATF’s working program on cryptos is focused on money laundering and terrorist financing risks related to these assets, their regulatory environment, and the revision of FATF global standards, which started several weeks ago.
FATF will hold an intersessional meeting in September to analyze various opinions and will present the review results in October this year.
“There is an immediate need to clarify how the FATF definitions and Recommendations concerning customer due diligence, money or value transfer services, wire transfers, supervision, and enforcement apply to virtual currency/crypto-asset providers and related businesses.”
As part of the revision, FATF analyzed the legislation towards digital assets in G20 members and several other states and developed a mechanism to monitor how the countries oversight cryptos.
“The FATF is actively monitoring the risks associated with virtual currency/crypto-asset payment products and services, including pre-paid cards linked to virtual currencies, Bitcoin ATMs, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) […] Besides small-scale drug trafficking and fraud, the link between virtual currencies/crypto-assets and other predicate crimes appears to be growing.”
This week, another international-standard setting body, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), published a framework for monitoring crypto assets, also as part of its commitments to the upcoming G20 Summit.
