August 5, 2021
Japan’s top financial regulator said his planned platform to fight money laundering could include cryptocurrency dealers, which he said have the same obligation as traditional financial institutions to make sure they don’t deal with criminals, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Financial Services Agency has said it is mulling to create a shared industrywide system that financial firms could use to judge whether their clients might be terrorists and whether client accounts are at risk of being used for money laundering.
“In the sense that they are prohibited to deal with those subject to sanctions, cryptocurrency dealers are the same as banks,” said FSA chief Junichi Nakajima in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“Because we have the same list of international terrorists, it would be more cost-effective and more accurate if we create a shared system, rather than doing it by individual financial firms,” said Mr. Nakajima, who assumed his post in July.
Mr. Nakajima said his agency expects to put together a plan for the new platform by around the middle of next year.
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