Financial Action Task Force Defines Virtual Assets And Calls For Further Regulation Of Virtual Assets

In a statement on October 19, 2018 (the "October Statement"), the Financial Action Task Force¹ (the "FATF") announced that it has adopted changes (the "October Amendments") to the FATF Recommendations (the "Recommendations"), to clarify the application of the Recommendations to financial activities involving virtual assets with respect to anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism ("AML/CFT") matters. The October Amendments define the terms "virtual assets" and "virtual asset service providers", and modify Recommendation 15 (New Technologies) to provide that:

"To manage and mitigate the risks emerging from virtual assets, countries should ensure that virtual asset service providers are regulated for AML/CFT purposes, and licensed or registered and subject to effective systems for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the relevant measures called for in the FATF Recommendations."²