AUSTRAC Wants Stricter Bitcoin Regulation In Australia
AUSTRAC’s Brad Brown pointed towards the Mt. Gox debacle and Silk Road to make the report’s “findings” stick. The status of Bitcoin in Australia has changed quite a few times over the past few years. The latest legislative proposal will see Bitcoin regulated stricter under the country’s regular AML and counter-terrorism financing laws. To put this into terms people can understand, the Australian government sees Bitcoin as an emerging threat, rather than a valuable innovation, based on the latest AUSTRAC report. It is not entirely surprising to see the Australian government see Bitcoin as a....
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Digital currencies such as bitcoin are attractive for terrorism financing, according to Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, which is calling for them to regulate it under its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. A report published by AUSTRAC, Terrorism financing in Australia 2014, stated that terrorism financing was turning its attention to electronic and online payment methods, which is likely to rise over time. The report said: Terrorist groups engaged in radicalisation, recruitment and communication online (such as through social media) are a....
It is being reported that the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (also known as Austrac) is able to and is actively tracking conversions from the Australian dollars to bitcoin and vice-versa. The government agency is responsible for preventing money laundering and terrorism financing, so it doesn't quite come as a surprise that they would be following these types of transactions. "Australia is very fortunate among its international counterparts, in that we are one of the few countries which currently collects all international funds transfers, into or out of Australia,"....
An Australian financial regulator has opened a new innovation centre dedicated in part to blockchain research. According to AUSTRAC – the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre – its innovation hub is aimed at exploring new technologies like blockchain in partnership with private-sector firms. As part of the initiative, it also plans to open a regulatory 'sandbox' in which firms can test new financial products. The hub is part of a broader effort focused on financial intelligence, launched last week by AUSTRAC, aimed at reducing money laundering. The agency said in a statement:....
AUSTRAC also urged financial institutions from debanking clients who may be engaged in suspicious account activity, as a mistake could be costly to “Australia’s economy.” Australian financial compliance enforcement agency AUSTRAC has released two new guides to help entities to spot when customers are using crypto for illicit means, or when they are being forced to pay the creators of ransomware.But it warned that debanking customers merely on suspicion of such activity was a harmful practice with serious negative effects.In an announcement posted earlier today, AUSTRAC noted that the....
The Australian Financial Compliance Enforcement Agency (AUSTRAC) has announced two new guidelines to make it simpler to identify when crypto is being used for dubious purposes or when a person is being obliged to pay crypto to ransomware perpetrators. Each guide provides practical recommendations to assist organizations in determining whether a payment is tied to […]