Public consultation on FATF draft guidance on a risk-based approach to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is updating its Guidance on the risk-based approach to virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The FATF originally published this Guidance in June 2019 when […]
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
My new article Checking the Bitcoin Box. It’s about the December 2020 FinCEN Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would make banks and MSBs keep records of transactions over $3000 and report transactions over $10,000 (aggregations over a 24-hour period, too) involving cryptocurrency and “legal tender digital assets” (LTDA – […]
Estimated reading time: 1 minute
PRESS RELEASES Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Advances Its Work on Operational Measures to Prosecute Terrorist Financing and Virtual Assets February 25, 2021 Washington – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded its second plenary meeting during the German Presidency, its third virtual plenary since the start of the ongoing COVID-19 […]
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
… for the new episode of Mr. Watchlist’s DesigNation, entitled “Withholding Judgment”. Just dropping some basic knowledge about Withhold Release Orders (WROs) and Forced Labor Findings, which come out of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security. Less commentary than I usually do, but […]
Estimated reading time: 56 seconds
So, BitPay, which “offers a payment processing solution for merchants to accept digital currency as payment for goods and services”, settled 2,102 apparent violations of multiple programs that were considered non-egregious, but not voluntarily self-disclosed. The total value of the transactions involved was only $128,582.61 (and the actual revenue to […]
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Mr. Watchlist’s DesigNation is back, after over a month off (there hasn’t been a ton that’s been all that interesting recently, to be honest). But, “A Bit Much?” asks the burning question: why was the BitPay settlement with OFAC (and the BitGo one last year, too, to be honest) so […]
Estimated reading time: 34 seconds
Large Virtual Currency Transaction Report Upload documentation Reporting entities dealing in virtual currency (VC) have Large Virtual Currency Transaction reporting obligations coming into force on June 1, 2021. Reporting entities can begin developing the Large Virtual Currency Transaction Report (LVCTR) Upload (a means to submit the reports to FINTRAC […]
Estimated reading time: 58 seconds
FinCEN Extends Reopened Comment Period for Proposed Rulemaking on Certain Convertible Virtual Currency and Digital Asset Transactions Contact Office of Strategic Communications,703-905-3770 Immediate Release January 26, 2021 WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today that it has submitted for publication in the Federal Register an Extension Notice, which will lengthen […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
FinCEN Extends Comment Period for Rule Aimed at Closing Anti-Money Laundering Regulatory Gaps for Certain Convertible Virtual Currency and Digital Asset Transactions Contact Office of Strategic Communications, 703-905-3770 Immediate Release January 14, 2021 WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today it is reopening the comment period for its recent proposed […]
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Filing Requirement for Virtual Currency FinCEN Notice 2020-2 Currently, the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) regulations do not define a foreign account holding virtual currency as a type of reportable account. (See 31 CFR 1010.350(c)). For that reason, at […]
Estimated reading time: 1 minute