The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 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. The updated guidelines will also be made available for public consultation from key stakeholders. The decision to update its guidance on VASPs was the result of the organization’s three-day plenary session.
The updated guidelines will be published in the first week of March.
As part of its announcement, the intergovernmental body FATF that focuses on policies aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing revealed that the updated guidelines would be published in the first week of March. The new guideline will be an update to the June 2019 document that introduced the travel rule compliance for VASPs. The FATF travel rule requires all VASPs to share transaction data for both senders and recipients on their platform. In its previous review document published in June 2020, the FATF remarked that some progress had been made in implementing the crypto travel rule.
Regulators show concern over the growing crypto industry.
Regulators in many countries have recently expressed their concern over the growing crypto industry and the massive winning rally of the leading cryptocurrency. As reported earlier, the Reserve Bank of India expressed concerns on cryptocurrencies related to money laundering issues to funding terrorists. Speaking at a financial sector innovation policy roundtable, the former Federal Reserve Chair and the current U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that cyberattacks and digital currency-related crimes were on the rise. Several other regulators around the world have expressed their concern over cryptocurrencies.
