The Financial Express
Countries reportedly not being able to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for cryptocurrencies could be put in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF’s) “grey list,” as reported by Cointelegraph.
According to Cointelegraph, sources believe that the global financial watchdog aims to conduct annual checks for ensuring countries are complying with AML and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) rules on cryptocurrency providers. Reportedly, the grey list refers to the list of countries which are deemed by FATF as “jurisdictions under increase Monitoring.” The FATF stated that countries present on the list are committed for resolving “strategic deficiencies” with specific timeframes and are thus subjected to increased monitoring.
On the basis of information by Cointelegraph, currently, there are 23 countries on the grey list, including Syria, South Sudan, Haiti, Uganda, among others. Cryptocurrency hotspots such as United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Phillipines are believed to also be on the grey list as well. According to FATF, both counties have given a “high-level political commitment” to work in collaboration with the global financing watchdog for strengthening their AML and CFT regime. In April, 2022, the AML watchdog reported that many countries, including those having virtual asset service providers (VASPs), have not been complying with the protocols of Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and AML. As mentioned in the FATF guidelines, VASPs operating withing specified jurisdictions are required to be licensed or registered.
Moreover, Cointelegraph noted that in October, 2022, Svetlana Martynova, countering financing of terrorism coordinator, United Nations (UN), emphasised that cash and hawala are considered to be the “predominant methods” of terror financing. However, Martynova stated that technologies such as cryptocurrencies have been utilised to “create opportunities for abuse.”
“If they’re excluded from the formal financial system and they want to purchase or invest in something with anonymity, and they’re advanced for that, they’re likely to abuse cryptocurrencies,” Martynova said.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)
Also Read: Bitcoin miner Iris Energy faces $103M default claim
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