Editor's Note: This article comes fromInterchain Pulse (ID: HiveEcon)Editor's Note: This article comes from
Interchain Pulse (ID: HiveEcon)
Interchain Pulse (ID: HiveEcon)
, translation: Yaqi, reproduced by Odaily with authorization.
According to news on February 27, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Chen Maobo said in his annual budget speech on Wednesday that Hong Kong may soon strengthen supervision of the cryptocurrency field to better comply with international anti-money laundering norms.
Chen Maobo revealed that "detailed proposals" will come later this year, saying that the new regulations are aimed at virtual asset service providers (VASPs), which include cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet custody providers.
"VASP" is the collective term used by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering in its latest "Travel Rule" guidance. The most notable directive of the rules, published last year, is the travel rule: requiring “virtual asset service providers,” or VASPs, to disclose customer information when facilitating transactions of $1,000 or more. The information requested includes the sender's and recipient's name, geographic location and account details.
Before Hong Kong, many regions have started to use this rule to regulate VASP. The United States has developed a similar concept to the FATF guidelines under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the country's main anti-money laundering law. In 2013, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) decided that the BSA should apply to the cryptocurrency industry. In this recommendation, FinCEN also confirmed the application of the BSA travel rule and published its own guidance for VASPs in May 2019. In 2013, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) decided to apply the BSA to the cryptocurrency industry. In that recommendation, FinCEN also affirmed the application of the BSA travel rule and issued guidance for VASPs in May 2019. In 2015, Ripple was fined $450,000 for “willfully violating” BSA rules.
Switzerland is one of the latest countries to implement the FATF guidelines. In January, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority lowered the trading threshold for unidentified cryptocurrency exchanges from $5,000 (5,000 Swiss francs) to $1,000 (1,000 Swiss francs). The new Financial Services Act complies with FATF’s travel rule threshold and aims to address “heightened money laundering risks” in crypto markets.
But this rule is likely to be used on a large scale around the world. Last weekend (February 22-23), the G20 Finance Ministers Summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The finance ministers and central bank governors of the twenty countries discussed many hot issues. After the meeting, a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 countries issued a joint communiqué urging countries to implement cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets.
In the G20 communiqué issued after the meeting, the statement on cryptocurrencies read: Building on the 2019 Leaders’ Declaration, countries are urged to implement the recently adopted Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on virtual assets and related providers. "standard.
