Money Laundering Regulators Consider Global ‘Binding Rules’ for Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Recent reports state that The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body consisting of 37 nations fighting money laundering and terrorism financing is considering taking new global regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Mentioning an anonymous Japanese government official familiar with the subject, Reuters is claiming that the international body will commence talks on June 24 in an effort to bring in strict laws controlling global  cryptocurrency exchanges.

Japan is one of the top nations to be part of this move which has witnessed  G20 officials seeking for a united effort to handle the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering.  Japan is hoping to spearhead this move by calling to use those new regulations by 2019.

During the discussions, the FATF will consider the efficiency of non-binding rules from June 2015 that have given rise for cryptocurrency exchanges to be licensed and /or registered, comply with know-your-customer (KYC) rules to avoid money laundering and report such activities.

But given that the guidelines are non-binding, their implementation among countries are mostly unsuccessful.

The body will consider if these new rules will be effective in the next three years, see how they can be enforced for new exchanges and how they can bring on board nations that have totally stopped cryptocurrency trading.

According to the Japanese official, European governments and the United States can be convinced to be part of the move to create new rules. Popularly known as the first economy in the world to control the cryptocurrency industry, Japan initially released a law in April 2017 to amend its Payment Services Act and see the benefits offered by cryptocurrencies as a legal method of payment. In accordance with the new regulation, domestic exchanges need to register and acquire a license from the financial regulator to operate in the country.