Thirty-five countries and the European Commission have asked the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to revise its standards related to cryptocurrencies, which is currently responsible for the development of global anti-money laundering (AML) policy. The group promised to revise the policy on money laundering in cryptocurrencies at the forthcoming G20 finance ministers' meeting.
FATF-meeting
According to the Yonhap news agency, members of 35 countries and two organizations "urged global institutions to improve their understanding of the risk of money laundering in crypto-currencies" at the FATF meeting held in Paris from February 18 to February 23.
According to FATF's website, the working group was established in 1989 as an intergovernmental body whose objective is to set standards and to promote the fight against money-laundering, terrorist financing and other threats.
FATF currently consists of 35 member jurisdictions and two regional organizations. China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are the member of organizations for the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
In last week's meeting, Sedaily said "with the advent of e-wallets, member states are increasingly worried about the anonymity and the risk of money laundering in cryptocurrencies," while hybrid services obscure the identity of their owners. Hankyoreh further elaborates: "FATF discussed the need to revise its own international standards as well as plans to revise the virtual currency guidelines created in June 2015 and agreed to report on response measures at the G20 finance ministers' meeting in March."
In addition, the report states that my country was elected as the next Vice-Chairman at this meeting for a term from July 2019 to June 2020.
On Monday, South Korean officials said in a meeting, South Korea informed the FATF "obligations related to the trading of cryptocurrencies to address the problem of money laundering."
In a statement, South Korea's Financial Services Committee (FSC) said that "FATF Korea is the first of its kind to protect against the laundering of anti-money laundering standards for encrypted currency transactions."
South Korea has banned cryptocurrencies trading anonymously and implemented a real-name system on January 30. The country's financial intelligence unit (FIU) also issued anti-money laundering guidelines for financial institutions. According to the Yonhap club, they need to properly verify their clients and add that they also have a duty to closely monitor financial transactions and "enhance customer due diligence" when they are involved in virtual currency-linked financial transactions using virtual accounts.