International Anti-Money Laundering Organization: "52 Countries Regulate Cryptocurrency Operators... 6 Countries Ban Them"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] Among 128 countries worldwide, 58 countries comply with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations on virtual currencies, and among them, 52 countries regulate virtual currency service providers. The remaining 6 countries have reportedly banned virtual currency businesses altogether.

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 29th, FATF held its 32nd plenary meeting from the 21st to the 25th, discussing issues related to virtual currencies and virtual currency service providers, as well as sanctions against countries that do not comply with FATF international standards.

FATF conducted a survey targeting member countries to assess the implementation status of the 2019 revised FATF standards and prepared an implementation review report, which was adopted as the final version at this plenary meeting.

Among the 128 countries that responded to the survey, 58 countries were confirmed to have introduced regulatory measures for virtual currencies. Six countries reported banning virtual currency businesses.

The private sector reported progress in developing technical solutions to implement the Travel Rule. However, the majority of member countries have not yet implemented mandatory requirements, including the Travel Rule, which was pointed out as an obstacle to establishing a global safety net to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The Travel Rule requires virtual currency service providers to identify both the sender and receiver when transferring virtual currencies to prevent money laundering.

The second 12-month implementation review report related to virtual currencies is scheduled to be published on the 5th of next month, and the revised FATF guidelines on virtual currencies and virtual currency service providers are expected to be finalized in October this year.

FATF also adopted a report analyzing the benefits and challenges of digital transformation and the application of new technologies in the anti-money laundering field. It evaluated that the application of new technologies can enhance the speed of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures by supervisors and financial institutions and improve the accuracy of risk assessments.

FATF maintained Iran and North Korea as "high-risk jurisdictions subject to countermeasures" due to significant deficiencies. Haiti, Malta, the Philippines, and South Sudan were newly added as "jurisdictions under increased monitoring," excluding Ghana. The total number of jurisdictions under increased monitoring rose to 22.

Additionally, FATF adopted mutual evaluation reports for South Africa and Japan. Mutual evaluation refers to the assessment of the implementation level of international standards related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.