FATF criticises Qatar central bank over lax oversight of crypto firms

The Central Bank of Qatar should strengthen its understanding of more complex forms of financial crime and tighten compliance with the rules it has set for registered VASP providers. Such recommendations were issued by the FATF.

In case you missed, find out more about the effectiveness of Qatar’s measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the FATF-MENAFATF mutual evaluation report ➡️https://t.co/CwEJTZnb0M#moneylaundering #terroristfinancing #aml #cft #FollowTheMoney pic.twitter.com/IFiaCRxWju

— FATF (@FATFNews) June 1, 2023

Experts urged the Central Bank to bolster its capabilities to effectively combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, including imposing sanctions on VASPs.

In December 2019, QFCRA warned that it would impose a fine on any firm that provides or facilitates the exchange of crypto assets. Such activity cannot be carried out in Qatar’s Financial Centre.

The FATF noted that Qatar had achieved “positive and sustained progress” in collecting information on beneficial owners for its nearly complete unified register of residents.

The organisation recommended increasing controls to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the data collected.

On 1 June 2023, in Japan came into effect the FATF’s Travel Rule, intended to monitor crypto transactions for AML purposes.

Earlier, a similar requirement for local companieswas extended by the Korea Financial Services Commission.