European Commission to Bring Bitcoin Exchanges Under AML Directive to Curb Terrorist Financing
Bitcoin exchanges in Europe are soon to be regulated under the scope of Europe’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The European Commission issued a statement late Tuesday night detailing new efforts to control financial flows and money transfers, which it described as aimed at subverting terrorist financing. Among these mechanisms are bitcoin and other virtual currencies. The Commission “proposes to bring virtual currency exchange platforms under the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, so that these platforms have to apply customer due diligence controls when exchanging virtual....
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The European Commission, the executive arm for the European Union, has said that it plans to tighten reporting standards for digital currency exchanges as part of a broader effort to restrict terrorist financing channels. The Commission said that it intends to require both exchange and wallet service providers in Europe to identify their customers, a move that comes after growing debate among EU policymakers about whether digital currencies are being used by terrorist groups to transfer funds. The announcement comes on the heels of a report by the EU’s top law enforcement agency, Europol,....
The new European Commission proposal to prevent money laundering and terror financing proposes additional regulations for Bitcoin companies. In the backdrop of recent terrorist attacks across the European Union and the Panama papers leak, the European Commission has put forth a proposal to amend the existing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. The proposal calls for the amendment of EU Directive 2015/849 and Directive 2009/101/EC, both related to prevention of money laundering or terrorist financing. The proposal includes a series of measures to prevent....
The European Commission and its partnering agencies including Europol have become increasingly active in its investigation on terrorist financing and and the use of digital currencies such as bitcoin in the dark web. As a part of its global initiative to reduce and restrict financial flows of terrorists and money laundering, the European Commission has proposed to regulate digital currency exchange platforms under the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which would require bitcoin exchanges to keep sensitive customer data records for bitcoin-to-fiat trading. “These platforms have....
The European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, has stated, in its recently published report, that the use of Bitcoin in financing terrorist activities has not been confirmed. Despite the clear conclusion reached in this report, another EU bureaucracy arm, the European Commision, has only just come out with a comprehensive package to tackle "terrorist financing". It seems this proposal is more about tightening capital controls than "fighting terrorism," as digital currency economy accounts for only a tiny fraction of global money transfers. "To prevent their abuse for money....