By Staff Reporter
G20 will regulate crypto assets for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing risks (AML/CTF) along the guidelines issued by the Financial Action Task Force, the Paris-based international financial crime watchdog.
The Financial Stability Board (FSB), the global standard setter under the G20, has said earlier in the summer that the crypto assets do not yet pose any financial stability risks but they require monitoring due to their fast-changing nature.
Crypto assets earned a mention in the declaration issued by the G20 leaders following their meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week (see here).
Besides regulating crypto assets, such as Bitcoin and Ether, for financial crime risks, it will consider “other responses as needed,” the G20 said.
The FATF has issued a guidance for AML/CFT with regards to virtual currencies on June 2014 (see here), with further amendments to the original guideline released on October 2018 (see here.)
The global financial crime watchdog is expected to release further details on how AML/CFT norms can be applied crypto assets by the middle of 2019 (see here.)
More discussions are likely to occur during 2019 G20 meet which is scheduled to be held in Osaka in June 2019. Japan, one of the first countries to legalize Bitcoin, has been spearheading a push for more harmonized international standards governing cryptocurrencies.
