FATF Countries to Regulate the Cryptocurrency Exchanges as Commercial Banks
The Financial Action Task Force ( FATF) has urged the Financial authorities of its 35 member countries to regulate the cryptocurrency exchanges similarly as they regulate the conventional commercial banks.
To supervise the standards of cryptocurrency exchanges, the intergovernmental body FATF has taken these measures. These supervision acts were discussed at the FATF meeting in France on 22nd Feb 2019. According to the body, these steps are necessary “ to prevent cryptocurrencies from being misused for illegal transactions,”
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the intergovernmental organization that develops policies that combat the money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats related to the integrity of the financial system around the globe was established in 1989. It is also called as Groupe d’action financière (GAFI) in French.
The current members of the body are-
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United States of India, and the United Kingdom. Plus Gulf Cooperation Council, Hong Kong, and the European Commission.
According to FATF, the implementation of the regulations have been, and these measures will be effective from June. Adding to this it said, “For the purposes of applying the FATF recommendations, countries should consider virtual assets as ‘property,’ ‘proceeds,’ ‘funds,’ ‘funds or other assets,’ or other ‘corresponding value.’” Now, all the countries should follow these measures as recommended by the FATF in order to mitigate the money laundering and risks of financing the terrorist activities. It has also clarified that “A country need not impose a separate licensing or registration system with respect to natural or legal persons already licensed or registered as financial institutions.”
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