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ARTICLE · 30 OCTOBER 2018

Financial Action Task Force Clarifies Virtual Asset Regulation

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On October 19, 2018, the Financial Action Task Force published the outcomes of its plenary on October 17-19, 2018. The FATF considered key issues ...

United StatesFinance and Banking
A&O Shearman
A&O Shearman
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On October 19, 2018, the Financial Action Task Force published the outcomes of its plenary on October 17-19, 2018. The FATF considered key issues such as the operations and streamlining of the FATF, major and other strategic initiatives and mutual evaluations.

One of the major initiatives covered by the plenary was the regulation of virtual assets. The G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors communiqué following their July 2018 Buenos Aires meeting called on the FATF to clarify, by October 2018, how its global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards apply to crypto assets. At its October plenary, the FATF adopted amendments to the FATF Recommendations and Glossary at the plenary and issued a statement on the regulation of virtual assets. The FATF has done this to clarify that its standards apply to exchanges, wallet providers and providers of financial services for Initial Coin Offerings. Jurisdictions should therefore ensure that

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