FATF finalises guidance for the crypto industry

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has completed development of a new version of the guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry. According to FATF President Marcus Pleyer, the document will be presented next week.

At a press conference on the FATF plenary’s final day, Pleyer noted that the updated guidance does not introduce new requirements for virtual asset service providers (VASP) and the industry as a whole. He said the organisation will simply “provide more detailed information on how countries and the private sector can apply existing standards”.

Pleyer added that the new version of the guidance explains how FATF requirements apply to stablecoins. He also stressed that the organisation expects more active adoption of the standards by supervised countries.

The first version of the guidance was introduced in 2019. Back then, Bitcoin exchanges and other VASPs were required to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules, in line with traditional financial firms.

In particular, industry participants were required to share user data when users conduct transactions across platforms. In June, FATF noted that most jurisdictions have not yet implemented these requirements, and urged countries to accelerate the process.

In March, the organisation published a draft of the guidelines that envisages bringing DeFi and NFT sectors under regulators’ oversight.

In line with FATF recommendations has proposed banning anonymous cryptocurrency transactions to combat money laundering.

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